The other world
by Writer207
Summary: After Kaz messes with the wormhole generator, he and Oliver are transported to another universe. There, they meet different versions of themselves and everyone else. At first everything looks normal but things aren't as they seem. They discover secrets about that world and some of the doppelgangers aren't happy with them finding out what's truly going on...
1. New Philadelphia

**Hey guys! Here I am again with a new story! I've had this idea for quite some time, but I've always felt it wasn't the right time to write it, until now! So, we begin about six weeks after the villains destroyed Mighty Med and... well, the rest you can read for yourself down below.**

 **Enjoy!**

 **-Writer207**

* * *

Six weeks after Mighty Med got destroyed, Kaz and Oliver walked into the Domain. It's been a while since they've been here. With everything that happened the past six weeks, they didn't really have the time to visit their favorite store in Philadelphia. They had some free time now, since the heroes who survived were almost ready to get back into the field. They planned to spend that free time in the store for as long as they didn't need to help someone.

Everything was the same as it always has been, which comforted them. At least one thing has never changed. Together, they browsed through comic books, talked about what adventures the survivors were caught up in now, how it would affect the MM comic universe and whether a catastrophe of the same scale would happen to the other universes without a Mighty Med.

"Oliver, look!" Kaz suddenly said. Oliver turned to his best friend and his eyes widened. In his hands, Kaz held a very familiar device.

"The wormhole transporter," Oliver said, "I thought it was destroyed!"

"Me too," Kaz admitted, wearing a smile on his face, looking at the device, "But then I remembered I took it here one day and never brought it back." Oliver rolled his eyes. Typical of Kaz to take something from work and leave it at the Domain. Well, at least he saved it from destruction.

Maybe 'saved' was too big of a word. The wormhole generator looked like Kaz dropped it before today. There was a big dent on top and at some places, it was taped together. With this kind of damage, Oliver believed it would probably not work anymore, or malfunction.

Kaz started to push some buttons on the thing. "Kaz, stop it," Oliver said, trying to stop his friend from doing something he would regret later, "It's too damaged!"

"Come on, Oliver," Kaz said, "What's the worst that can happen?"

"We could be trapped in a wormhole like Captain Atomic!" Oliver responded. Only after Kaz carelessly had pushed a button, the hero was freed. Who knew how long it would take before someone freed them, if someone would accidentally free them at all.

"Relax, nothing's going to happen," Kaz said, not looking at what he was doing with the device. He hit the button which would activate the device. It engulfed them in that wormhole that always appeared when that button was pressed. There was no time to react when they were pulled into the wormhole and put back on their feet at the other end.

The first thing the pair of friends did was look around and they sighed in relief. They were still in the Domain – at least it brought them back to the Domain. Oliver looked at the clock Gus placed in the shop and compared it to the time his phone displayed. It was still the same time. Oliver frowned – something happened, and yet they were

"See?" Kaz then said, "Nothing happened." He seemed to be either underestimating the situation or truly believed nothing had happened while he continued to fiddle with the device.

Oliver snatched it out of Kaz' hands, believing it was safer in his own. "No, something did change," he said, looking around for anything abnormal, "We did go to the wormhole. The chances of ending up in the exact same place and time are very small." He didn't have to look around too long. From the back, Gus walked into the store behind the counter.

"Welcome in the Domain, how may I—" He froze when he finally looked up and noticed Kaz and Oliver were in the Domain. The two friends waved at Gus and walked closer.

"Hey Gus!" Kaz said with a smile on his face until he saw Gus was frightened, "Is something wrong?"

"W-What do you want?" Gus stuttered, hurrying to say these words, as if he wanted to get it over with. The entire time, he didn't stop staring with a terrified look in his eyes. Kaz and Oliver looked at one another with a confused look in their eyes before looking back at Gus.

"Nothing," Oliver said. Gus nodded quickly.

"O-Okay," he seemed to be relieved they didn't want anything, as he suddenly relaxed a little, "Stay as long as you like, please don't hurt me! If you do need me, I'm in the back. Bye!" Without any further ado, he ran back to the back of the store, far away from Oliver and Kaz.

The two friends were left speechless. They walked away from the counter to the middle of the store. Kaz looked back at the counter, waiting for Gus to pop up again. He didn't. "That was weird," Kaz said before sitting down on the couch. Oliver didn't sit down immediately, wheels in his head turning as he tried to figure out what was going on with their weird friend.

"He's afraid of us," Oliver realized, saying it out loud so Kaz would know, too. It was the only explanation Oliver could give to his behavior. He tried to link his behavior with the wormhole generator while Kaz commented on Oliver's deduction.

"Yeah, that's what's weird," Kaz said, "I mean, he never shows any fear, right?" Well, there was this one time when Captain Atomic fought the robot-principal, but back then his life was directly threatened. At this moment, only their presence scared him. He also specifically asked not to be hurt, which made him wonder what Gus had gone through.

Then, Oliver put two and two together. He turned to Kaz, "We didn't go to another place or another time," he said, "but what if we went to a different universe?" It was the only plausible explanation he could give this. Kaz just up looked at him, slouching in the couch.

"Really?" he said, "'Cause I would've noticed." Oliver could hit his friend, but didn't. as always, he looked like he couldn't care less. From experience, he knew Kaz was trying to see at ease in this world and tried to make sense out of it. Gus being afraid of them didn't really make sense, so Kaz tries to hold on to the familiar environment of the couch in the Domain.

"Gus is afraid!" Oliver almost shouted it, but continued with a much calmer tone. "I don't know what's going on either, but that's not normal. And we did go through a wormhole." They didn't know whether the chances of being at the exact same location and time were small or big, but it was weird they were at the Domain now.

"You know what?" Kaz then said, "Let's go walk around and if we see more abnormal things, we're in a different world." Oliver nodded.

"Let's do that," he said. They would leave the Domain. They could go to the school building or to the Mighty Med and everywhere else. If there saw more weird things, they knew the wormhole transporter brought them to a different universe.

As soon as they stepped out of the store, they stood face to face with their own doppelgangers. Kaz and Oliver looked at them, scared and freaking out that there were two of them now. Their doppelgangers were surprised by the visitors – they had only wanted to visit the Domain, but stumbled into two people who looked exactly like them.

The doppelgangers looked at one another and then looked at the two visitors with a threatening look in their eyes. They slowly advanced while Kaz and Oliver backed away from the two.

"Looks like we're lucky," the other Oliver said, "So, you really thought you could pretend to be us? Nice try."

"W-We're not pretending!" Kaz said, panicking, "We're real. We're you. No, you are us. No, I …"

"Kaz!" Oliver then yelled in his friend's direction, "Shut up! You're making it worse." The other Kaz and other Oliver glanced at one another. When they turned their heads back to the visitors, the other Kaz' hand caught fire and he extended it in their direction.

This gave Kaz the idea to do the same. "We come in peace!" Kaz said while the two 'natives' were confused by this unusual turn of events.

"You're not Roman and Riker," the other Kaz said, relaxing his hand and making the flames disappear. Oliver and Kaz sighed in relief when the two finally started to act friendly and hear them out.

"Who?" Oliver asked when he heard those names. Roman and Riker. He was certain he's heard those names before, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it.

"Who are you, then?" The other Oliver asked them. Oliver decided to answer because he knew Kaz would just confuse himself when he introduced them to their doppelgangers.

"We're Kaz and Oliver," Oliver said, "We're… Well, we're you from another universe." The other Kaz and other Oliver nodded after hearing that.

"Plausible," The other Kaz commented.

"That still doesn't explain how you got here," the other Oliver then said. "We can't jump to different universes, so you shouldn't either." Kaz and Oliver looked at each other and Oliver grabbed the wormhole generator from behind his back. He had protected it from the 'natives' in case they'd break it even more, destroying their only way home. He wanted to tell them the name, but the other Oliver and other Kaz recognized the item.

"Again, plausible," the other Kaz said while his visitor-counterpart nodded. Oliver watched as they agreed. Good to know we're the same in this world.

"Maybe it's better if you two went home," the other Oliver proceeded to say. Oliver silently agreed with him while the two Kazes protested.

"I don't want to leave." Kaz said.

"Dude!" the other Kaz exclaimed at the same time, "They've just arrived, can't we just have a little fun with them?" Oliver could only imagine the four of them inside the Domain, playing games and switching places until they didn't know who came from where. Four friends having fun. Yet something in the back quickly dismissed that idea. The way they had acted before they learned they were not impostors… that was a little too dark for them to ever be.

"Maybe we should," Oliver said, not feeling okay with the way they quickly changed personalities. Before either one of their friends could complain, the other Oliver backed the idea.

"I agree," he said, "Your friends probably miss you already. Besides, just think of the many strange things you'd see here. You'd just be confused." He was looking at his Kaz when he said that last phrase, but it definitely applied to Kaz as well.

Oliver was ready to press the button when Kaz interrupted him. "Do we have to go?" he asked Oliver, who rolled his eyes.

"Yes," he said, hoping Kaz wouldn't be so reluctant to leave the next time he tried something like this again. He turned to the other Kaz and Oliver. "Thanks for not killing us."

"You're welcome," the other Oliver said, then poked the other Kaz with his elbow when he didn't say anything.

"I'm sorry for that," he said forcefully, "I really thought you were Roman and Riker."

"Aren't those Rodisius' kids?" Kaz then wondered out loud. When he mentioned the hero, Oliver put two and two together: Rodisius, the superhero who had two superpowered sons, Roman and Riker. He's seen them sometimes, but not that often. he then realized Kaz said it so they were able to stay a little longer in this other world that resembled their own.

"Goodbye," Oliver said before the could explain why they thought the visitors were Roman and Riker. He grabbed Kaz and pressed the button on the device. Nothing happened. Oliver pressed it again, but they stayed on their places. He hit it a few more times, all of them without result.

"It's broken," Oliver said, then looked at Kaz, "See? I knew something would happen." Kaz didn't really want to say anything in return. He didn't have to – the other Kaz soon opened his mouth.

"What just happened?" He asked, not fully understanding what went wrong. The other Oliver misinterpreted this simple question, thinking his friend wanted to know what exactly happened instead of wanting to know what caused this malfunction.

"I think they're stuck in our world," the other Oliver said, voicing what everyone was already thinking.


	2. Mighty Med rebuilt

**So, I've finally finished the next chapter! Sorry it took a while, I'm currently on vacation with my family. The next one will be here sooner, I promise. Anyway, here's the second chapter of this story (after I've replied to the reviews):**

 _PurpleNicole531:_ _Thanks for reviewing! There wouldn't have been a story at all! They're stuck, until they find a way out. The Elite Force hasn't been formed yet in the two worlds, the doppelgangers just know a little more about Roman and Riker._

 _LabRatsWhore:_ _Well, there wouldn't be a story to tell if Kaz didn't push the buttons (but you're right, he should stop doing that). The reason why Gus is afraid will be revealed this chapter. They sure can be OOC, while some most certainly are not. Thanks for reviewing!_

 _Shadow-wolf78:_ _Thanks for reviewing! Here is the next chapter._

 _TKDP:_ _Gus being scared will be explained this chapter. The Elite Force hasn't happened in the two worlds yet, so there probably won't be any mention of it (but the Davenpots probably will be mentioned). Well, everything will be explained eventually, just not right away. Jordan might not appear, but maybe Skylar will. Thanks for reviewing!_

 **Enjoy!**

 **-Writer207**

 **P.S. Who else is excited for Coming Through the Clutch? I know I am!**

* * *

Oliver glared at Kaz, since he was the one who got them trapped in this universe. Despite this major setback, Kaz didn't really seem to be worried about not being able to go home, unlike Oliver.

"Oliver, relax, I know how to fix this," Kaz said confidently, placing his hands on Oliver's shoulders. Then, he turned around and looked at the other version of him. "Do you by any chance have a wormhole transporter?" Oliver sighed, but also thought it was smart of him to ask about the wormhole transporter in this universe. The other Kaz and other Oliver tried to remember its latest whereabouts.

Eventually, the other Kaz snapped his fingers. "I think I saw it in a drawer at the Mighty Med," he said.

"Careful!" the other Oliver said, quickly glancing to the visitors.

"Why?" the other Kaz said, "They have powers, they know about Mighty Med. You do know about it, right?" he added, looking at the two visitors, who nodded in agreement.

"Why wouldn't we?" Kaz responded and his counterpart started to smile. At least some things are still the same in both worlds.

Oliver turned to his friend. "Well, Kaz…"

"Yes?" The two Kazes replied in unison. Oliver sighed. _This is going to be a problem._ They had to stay here for a while – at least until they found this universe's wormhole transporter – and if they kept using each other's names, it would be confusing to say the least.

The other Oliver also recognized this problem and already had worked on a solution. "Two times Oliver, two times Kaz… One pair shouldn't use their first names," he proposed the idea, "Do you have a codename already?"

"No, we don't," Kaz replied, then realized what that would mean, "Wait, do you?"

"We do," the other Oliver replied, "Then it's settled. You're Oliver and Kaz and we'll go by our codenames."

"I like that," the other Kaz said, "Call me Firefly. He's Cryo."

Kaz frowned. "Really?" he asked his counterpart, who apparently goes by the name 'Firefly', "Out of all the options, you picked _that_?"

"No, I didn't," Firefly said, shaking his head, "Kenny actually called me that a while ago. At first I despised it, but I've started to really like it." Kaz just stared at his counterpart in confusion. He promised himself that, if Kenny ever called him that, he wouldn't take the name, no matter what happened. It's just weird.

In the meantime, Oliver and his counterpart, known as Cryo, were talking about that choice. "Why Cryo," Oliver asked, "Not that it isn't good, it's just that we're better with water."

"All other water and ice based names were taken," Oliver just admitted, "but technically, ice is just frozen water and— better with water?" he interrupted himself, before continuing, "I prefer to work with ice, but water takes less concentration, so I can see why you prefer water."

When the four were done talking about the codenames they've chosen, Cryo continued the conversation.

"Since you might be here for a while – we have no idea where in the Med the transporter is – why don't you tell us about your world? That way, you'll know what's different here and what's not. And Firefly and I will be able to learn more about your world, too, right?" Cryo added, looking at his partner in crime. Firefly nodded.

"Yes indeed," he said, "So, what's your world like?"

And Kaz and Oliver explained everything that's happened to them so far. They told about their adventures at the Mighty Med and at school whenever school and work crossed over. They told them about their friends and enemies. Cryo and Firefly listened with interest, wanting to know every little detail about the visitors' world. From time to time, they interrupted the visitors to ask a question. "She really bought that?" they asked about Jordan when Captain Atomic became a substitute teacher. Other than that, they only spoke up when Kaz and Oliver told them everything they wanted to know.

"Well, the same things are going on here," Cryo said, confirming their allegiance, "Tecton, Solar Flare and their allies fight on our side against Megahertz and his friends."

"Yeah, but everyone knows," Firefly casually said.

"Everyone knows?" Kaz wondered out loud and Firefly nodded.

"Yes, they know about us," Firefly explained. "People with powers, Normo with tools. Villains, heroes. It's not a secret here." Kaz and Oliver's mouths fell open when they heard the news. Such a small detail already changed the way they thought about this world. Maybe that was why Gus was so afraid of them.

"It's impossible to keep a secret that big," Cryo then said, "I don't know how you guys managed to do it, but we never could. There are way too many people with phones recording everything."

"Is there anything else that's different?" Oliver asked them and Cryo nodded.

"We received our powers six month before Mighty Med was destroyed, not one. It still happened six weeks ago." Again, Oliver and Kaz were astonished. Six months definitely was a longer time period to learn how to control the powers with the help from experts than they have had. They had a feeling that wasn't the only thing that was different in this world due to time differences.

"Six months?" Kaz exclaimed and a phone rang. It was Firefly's. He put his phone at his ear and distanced himself for a short while his friend would keep the visitors occupied.

"Yes, six months," Cryo said, "We can control our powers, don't worry."

"Well, we don't," Kaz said as he put a hand on Oliver's shoulder, "so be careful around Oliver." Oliver shot an annoyed look in Kaz' direction.

"Why?" Cryo asked.

"He sometimes accidentally shoots water out of his fingers," he explained with a smile. "It happened to me just yesterday. I'm glad he just hit my T-shirt." At that moment, Firefly joined them again, putting the phone away.

"Yeah, we really have to go. Richard just called, they need us at the hospital." Cryo nodded with a serious look, then looked at the visitors.

"We're going to the hospital and you are coming with us," he said in a demanding tone, as if he didn't tolerate any objection, "You can fly, right?" he then asked, his tone a lot softer than the one he used to tell them they were coming with them.

"Yeah, but we may need a little push," Oliver said, speaking for himself and Kaz alike.

"Why?" Firefly asked.

"We're not very good at taking off," Oliver said, not mentioned how he's still working on the landings while Kaz already had that figured out, "We have to fall." Firefly and Cryo looked at the visitors, then at one another, and then back at the two. Cryo stepped in their direction while Firefly started to float three feet above the air.

"Okay, boys," he said, grabbing their shirt, "I am going to throw you in the air. It won't be too high and when you're falling, you should be able to start flying." Kaz and Oliver nodded and before they could do anything, Cryo threw them in the air. They reached a height of fifty yards above the ground before finally falling down, wind blasting in their faces. Eventually, they started to float in the air. Cryo and Firefly first went in their direction and then, they flew to the Mighty Med together.

* * *

It didn't take them long to arrive at the damaged hospital. Kaz and Oliver only stared in awe as they descended. Apparently, the Mighty Med in this universe didn't exist within another hospital, but was a hospital of its own. It wasn't as big as the Logan hospital, but it was big enough to take care of the Philadelphia-based heroes. They also recognized the red, white and black logo on the roof, displayed for all to see from the air.

The two friends looked at one another. The hospital was just standing there in plain sight. As they landed, they weren't stopped by any defense systems. Their existence may not be a secret in this world, but it wasn't a good idea to let the hospital stay out in the open without any defenses. Then again, they didn't know what defenses there were and for all they knew, Firefly and Cryo just disabled those defenses to make them able to land safely.

They landed in front of the door. Firefly opened the door. It was weird not to have to solve a puzzle to get into the hero hospital – instead, they just walked into the circular lobby where they came daily.

"Welcome to the Mighty Med," Firefly said, "I'm sorry about the mess, but this place was attacked, like, six weeks ago." Kaz and Oliver saw they were actually trying to rebuild the hospital, unlike their own world's Mighty Med. Most of the rubble was cleaned up and the roof was still in place. There were some gurneys in the room and a lot of screens, not too damaged, on the desks and some against the walls. So far, everything functioned well enough to actually help those who needed it.

Some people turned their heads when the saw Firefly, Cryo and their doppelgangers enter the hospital. Those who weren't staring, jumped into action. Tecton, for example, came to them very quickly, glaring at the four.

"Stand down, friend," Cryo said, preventing Tecton from doing anything before he could. "They're not Roman and Riker. No, it's not Replikate and one of her friends either. They are from another universe."

"I'm sorry," Tecton immediately apologized, putting a smile on his face as if he hadn't been glaring. "Welcome to our world." Then, he walked away again, not looking at them anymore. Kaz and Oliver noticed the others quickly focused back on their work or something else, as if they weren't a big deal anymore. The longer Kaz and Oliver looked around, the more people they noticed who had perished in their own world, like Benny and Lizard Man. Benny was currently typing random numbers and letters, too focused on one of the computer screens to notice the doppelgangers.

"Something wrong, Benny?" Firefly asked him. Without looking away, Benny nodded and sighed.

"Wi-Fi's back. Again," he said, frustrated, "I don't know what he's doing with _my_ systems, but he will pay for what he's doing to itonce I find him!" He sounded quite violent saying that, as if he were truly capable of hurting Wi-Fi for whatever he was doing.

"He doesn't like people messing with the systems. He's very passionate," Cryo explained to Kaz and Oliver, who were already confused hearing Benny talk like that. "Are you okay?" he then added when he noticed the way they looked at some of the people, including Benny.

"A lot of them died when our Mighty Med got attacked," Kaz explained, "How did they survive?"

"Most of us weren't around when it happened," Cryo said, "Our enemies had injured a lot of us, but we recovered much faster than they expected. We only have a few casualties." When Cryo was talking, he walked over to a wall where the picture of a bridge hung. Around that pictures were different pictures, all heroes. They recognized NeoCortex, Incognito (it was just the background), Owl Girl and Mesmera and seven more.

"How's Solar Flare?" Oliver then asked. He hadn't seen her around and wasn't on this wall, making him wonder if they had yet to add her picture to the wall or if she really was alive or somewhere else in the hospital.

"Alive," Firefly, who had joined them, responded, "She's okay."

"Blue Tornado?" Kaz then asked. Firefly nodded.

"Injured, but alive," he said, "He'll recover."

"And Titanio?" Oliver asked. Then, Cryo and Firefly looked at each other with a confused look in their eyes before turning back to the two visitors.

"Who is Titanio?" Cryo asked.

"You don't know him?" Kaz then said, in an attempt to make them remember him, "Henry Tidwell? Test pilot turned billionaire? Normo with too much money who decided to become a hero by building a blue metal suit?"

"We don't know someone like that, and we know pretty much everyone," Firefly said, "I have heard of Mr. Tidwell. Maybe he never decided to become a hero in our world." Kaz and Oliver hadn't mentioned the hero while they had been explaining how things worked in their universe. The two friends looked at each other.

"So it looks like certain heroes and villains don't exist in one world," Oliver concluded. Cryo nodded in agreement.

"What about the Dark Warrior, then?" Kaz asked, wondering if more Normo heroes don't exist in this universe, "And the Davenports?"

"They exist, even if the Dark Warrior's more of a legend than an actual ally. Either way, you do _not_ want to cross him." Firefly said, shaking his head. The visitors could only guess the Dark Warrior preferred to work alone and stay away from the hospital as much as possible, as he did in their own universe.

They turned away from the wall and Oliver caught some more pictures. This time, it was on one of the screens on the wall. The screen was occupied by two pictures, one of Chaz and the other one of Gulliver. Underneath the picture, their names were clearly visible and their power stood underneath it. It looked like a digital 'wanted' poster.

"Guys," he began, drawing the attention from Kaz, Cryo and Firefly, "What is that?"

"Those are our enemies – at least, those we still have to beat," Cryo explained. "But since there's a lot of them, we made a selection of those who really need to be put behind bars." Every time, there would be two faces on the screens, displayed for ten seconds before the next two would be shown. After Chaz and Gulliver followed brothers Roman and Riker, and then they showed Wi-Fi and, surprisingly, Captain Atomic.

" _Captain Atomic_ is one of your enemies?" Kaz said in disbelief. Cryo and Firefly shook their heads.

"No, he isn't. Well, he wasn't. He unfortunately ran into the Annihilator. If he can't or doesn't want to come back on his own, we'll get him back by force," Firefly said, determined to bring his old friend back. The visitors thought back about everything the Annihilator had done to them, especially to Skylar…

They could have sighed out loud, but didn't. Why had they forgotten about Skylar? Sure, being in a different yet strangely familiar universe was exciting, but they should have asked what happened to her right away.

"What happened to Skylar?" Oliver asked. He wanted to add something, but stopped when he saw how Cryo reacted when he mentioned her name.

"We don't talk about her a lot," Firefly said quickly, "The medical team – including us – figured out how to get her powers back. There was the Annihilator who controlled her for a while, but we got her back eventually. One of our top scientists figured it out and returned her powers to her. Cryo wanted to be the one to do that, but he couldn't. I'm trailing off here," he added. He wanted to continue, but Cryo never gave him that chance.

"When she got her powers back, she went back to Caldera and never came back," he said coldly. Oliver's mouth fell open, as did Kaz's, trying make sense out of it. She just left? They knew Skylar had to go back home after they retrieved her powers from the Annihilator, not knowing she was his servant, but they were friends. She wouldn't just leave them. She could at least come back once or twice a week or something and stay for a while. They could still write each other and talk to each other, depending on how well the reception is on Caldera. They could never imagine her leaving and never coming back. Maybe she was having trouble meeting them because of a busy schedule, or because a villain captured her. The possibilities were endless...

Before they could say anything else about her, the doors swung open and a familiar person in a red and black coat and mask walked inside.


	3. Enemies of the state

**Hey guys! I'm back with the next chapter! I'm sure you'd like to know who the person is who walked in? All I can say is that you know him, I think you like him and that he may reappear soon, too. So, after my responses to the reviews, you can read what happens next:**

 _LabRatsWhore:_ _Thanks for reviewing! I know, right? It was awesome! That's one big universe! Well, I think the Mighty Med had it better planned out when it came to keeping it a secret, since they've been doing it since they founded the hospital (I guess) while the Davenports only kept the secret for less than twenty years._

 _PurpleNicole531:_ _It depends on how you look at the person who walked in and what he is in this world. In the future, there'll be even clearer differences, and not just Captain Atomic and the Annihilator being associated with one another. Of course you'll get answers later on, though maybe not immediately (as for answers about Skylar, you may have to wait until chapter 10). Thanks for reviewing!_

 _TKDP:_ _Thanks for reviewing! Well, the Dark Warrior (a Normo) exists and so do the Davenports (they're just not that relevant since this is a Mighty Med story)). One of the reasons behind Chaz and Gulliver being 'big enemies' will be revealed this chapter, though they mostly work for others. Well, it still is emotional, they just don't want to mention her often as it reminds them of the time they spent with her. Everyone else is just everyone else, I guess. You'll see..._

 **Enjoy!**

 **-Writer207**

* * *

The man who had just entered the hospital was, to Kaz and Oliver, another familiar face in this universe who would probably think they were either Roman and Riker or Replikate and one of her shapeshifting friends. Unlike the others, this man didn't look in their direction once he walked into the lobby. Everyone turned their heads to him. He was smiling as if he'd just one a big prize by doing nothing at all. Only Kaz and Oliver looked at the flamethrowers he was holding in his hands

Firefly walked closer to him. "Wow, Kenny!" He said, "I haven't seen you that happy since your wedding day. What happened?"

The Incinerator grinned widely. "I have finally beaten Savage."

"You have, what now?" Kaz asked. He wished he understood what that meant, though it probably was something about him finally winning a battle from Savage. Since Kenny had no idea the visitors were in the same room as him, he thought Firefly had said these words. The Incinerator spoke not only to his brother, but everyone in the room.

"Yes, you heard me," he continued, proud of what he has done, "I took down Savage single-handedly. That idiot will never take one of our lives ever again. I made sure of that." Firefly and Cryo looked at one another with a worried look on their faces as the patients congratulated the Incinerator with his victory. "One down, three to go," he added before Firefly decided to step in.

"Kenny, can I talk to you in private?" he asked. The Incinerator shot him a confused look.

"Why do you—" he began, but then noticed Kaz and Oliver standing there behind Firefly, watching everything unfold in front of them. He looked back at Firefly and sighed. "I'm not even gonna ask about them. Let's go." Then, the Incinerator and Firefly walked out of the lobby, looking for a secure spot where they could talk to each other without the possibility of being eavesdropped.

Kaz watched as they left and pointed at his brother's doppelganger. " _That_ was Kenny?" he asked, sounding surprised. Cryo nodded.

"Yeah, that's him," he said, looking at the visitors. "I suppose he acts different in your world?"

"Well, he was a villain, but became a hero," Oliver explained, "but he doesn't like killing."

"Same here," Cryo said. He walked to one of the patients, Scarlet Ace. He lay unconscious on the gurney. Cryo continued his story, "Firefly persuaded him to be on our side. Told him it would be fun. Eventually, he did accept our offer once he figured out his former teammates killed his wife." Kaz' mouth fell open.

"Kenny _married_?" Kaz exclaimed and Cryo nodded as he examined Scarlet Ace.

Cryo looked up for a second. "I know, right?" He focused back on his patient, "I guess they didn't want to wait too long. The poor girl couldn't even spend one month with him before they found her burned corpse."

"Burned corpse?" Oliver wondered out loud. She died by fire. It could've been anything at all, but why did it have to be fire? Someone could've set her house on fire, but someone could have just burned her. Unfortunately, they knew quite a few pyrokinetic heroes and villains who could have done it, either intentionally or because they had no choice.

"Yes," Cryo said, nodding his head, "She was almost unrecognizable, but the building was unscathed. We later figured out it was Flamebird. The rest of the team agreed to carry out the plan. He's now trying to find them and kill them one by one." He then told Scarlet Ace, who was waking up, what exactly had happened and that a nurse would continue to help him later. He moved away from the gurney and looked back at the visitors with a look of despair.

"He's had a rough life. We all have. Fortunately, we have each other. I don't know where I'd be without them. I'd probably be chasing mom, but…" Cryo trailed off and didn't want to finish his phrase. It was a touchy topic, for both Cryo and Oliver.

"How is she?" Oliver asked. Cryo shrugged, looking away.

"We haven't seen or talked to each other since that day. She keeps her distance and I respect that choice. But one day, we will see each other again and talk. I don't know how that day may end." Then, Cryo kept his mouth shut, not mentioning his mother from that point forward. Oliver could relate, since the same happened between him and his mother. Only this time, they already faced each other, which happened while their Mighty Med got leveled.

"Okay, I'm back," Firefly said as he walked closer to the visitors and his best friend. The Incinerator wasn't coming with him. He probably had better things to do than hanging around in the lobby. "Kenny explained everything to me. The joy of defeating Savage overshadowed his grief. They were fighting, something happened and Savage died. Kenny tried to save him, but it was too late. In our case, an enemy dying is both good and bad news. We don't have to fight them anymore, and we let another person die."

While Firefly was talking, one of the computers started to beep loudly. Cryo reacted immediately. He walked to behind one of the computers and started typing on the keyboard. As soon as Firefly was done talking, Cryo told him what was going on.

"One of our friends is in trouble in West Philadelphia," he said. Firefly joined him, looking at the screen, taking over from him. Kaz and Oliver looked at each other, confused about what exactly was going on.

"Why are you getting these notifications?" "Kaz wondered, "Shouldn't they go straight to Fred?" Cryo looked at his friend's doppelganger.

"This isn't just a hospital to us," Cryo explained, "We stay here all day. Some of us live here because they have nowhere else to go to. This is just an alert to see when a friend is in trouble, so we can help them get out of trouble." Kaz and Oliver looked at each other and without saying a word decided to go stand behind them and see for themselves who was in trouble.

The images they were getting were very clear. They were at the park, close to the railroads. Four people were present near the camera. One of them lay on the ground – she had lost the fight. One of them stood close to her, looking down at her. The other two were discussing things and were standing a little bit further away from the camera, not immediately recognizable. Facial recognition programs confirmed what they already could see: Solar Flare had just lost a battle with Captain Atomic.

"It's Captain Atomic," Firefly said, saying out loud what they had already noticed. The other two people moved closer to the camera and the captain. Facial recognition told them their identities, too.

"And look at that," Cryo said, "Chaz and Gulliver are there, too." Chaz and Gulliver grabbed Captain Atomic by his arms, each taking one, and tried to drag him away from her. He wouldn't let them, though. The captain seemed to prefer to stay with his wounded victim. Luckily, she was alive. He kneeled next to her and neither boys tried to stop him.

"What did Chaz and Gulliver ever do to get this much attention?" Oliver asked. Captain Atomic gently placed a hand on Solar Flare's shoulder. She shook it off as soon as his hand and her shoulder made contact.

"First, they're annoying copycats of us," Firefly said, "Second, they tried to replace us here at the hospital. We discovered they wanted to inject the Annihilator's serum into our friends, and already had done it to some of them. We stopped them. We tried to turn them into cardboard cutouts, but we got bored, left and when we came back, they were gone. Yours too?" he looked at Kaz and Oliver for an answer. Captain Atomic tried to reason with her, tried to help, but Solar Flare sent flames in his direction. He managed to get out of the way just in time.

"Not really. They wanted to revive Dr. Wrath. The Annihilator was already dead when they came to us," Oliver said. Firefly looked at them, confused. Chaz and Gulliver decided it was time to help. They grabbed Captain Atomic and talked to him.

"The Annihilator's dead?" he said confused. Kaz and Oliver guessed the Annihilator was still alive in this world, somehow. Captain Atomic finally seemed to listen to the boys and walked away with them, leaving a hurt Solar Flare behind. Captain Atomic did look behind him one more time with a sorry look on his face before leaving with the teenagers.

"They're getting away," Cryo said. "Fred will take care of Solar Flare, but everyone in here hasn't recovered enough to take down the captain." He sighed and then looked at Firefly. "Looks like we'll have to leave our desks and do it ourselves."

Firefly nodded. "That's okay for me. There is just one small problem we have to take care of. Do you want _them_ to walk around without either of us to explain they're not Roman, Riker or Replikate?" He pointed at the visitors. Kaz and Oliver couldn't see why this could possibly be a problem. They told Tecton, who was still around, and everyone else here probably heard that they were from another universe. Why shouldn't they be alone without Firefly or Cryo?

"Good point," Cryo said, then looked at his counterpart. "Oliver, do you want to come with me?"

"What?" Oliver asked, blinking in surprise. He was taken aback by the request to come with his doppelganger and find (and fight) Chaz, Gulliver and Captain Atomic. Cryo sighed.

"I may need some help. Firefly unfortunately has to stay here and there's nobody I trust more than me. Are you in?" he asked, extending his hand in Oliver's direction. Oliver didn't hesitate.

"Sure!" he grabbed Cryo's hand and they shook it. Cryo nodded.

"Great!" he said, then turned his head to look at Kaz, "Don't worry, Kaz. We'll be back before you know it. Let's go!" Without further ado, Cryo turned around and walked out of the hospital, leaving Oliver and Kaz surprised with the haste he had. Oliver waved Kaz goodbye before running after the hero, who continued to walk until Oliver stopped him.

"Wait!" the teenager exclaimed, "Don't you have to suit up?" Cryo shook his head with a smile on his face.

"Our existence is not a secret here," he said, "I don't want to wear a latex costume and there's nobody they can use to threaten me. Now, any more questions? We have to get going before they can get away." When he was certain Oliver wouldn't ask any more questions, he nodded. Then, without any warning, he grabbed Oliver and threw him into the air. He slowly rose from the ground while Oliver's screams died out. Eventually, he was at eye-height with Oliver at twenty feet from the ground. Oliver was irritated. If he didn't need his arms to balance himself in the air, he would've crossed them.

"Warn me the next time you do that," Oliver said. Cryo just shrugged, turned around and flew straight to West Philadelphia. Oliver followed him, wondering what Kaz would be doing while he was fighting crime.

* * *

Kaz was bored now Oliver and Cryo weren't around to talk to. Of course, there were the patients and Firefly. Unfortunately, the patients weren't very talkative and Firefly was constantly monitoring whatever he was looking at on those screens – which left Kaz bored.

"What's this do?" he eventually asked when he was looking at a red button. From various movies and series he knew the red button usually meant something bad would happen, but he couldn't help but wonder if the same could be said in this situation. Firefly saw Kaz' hand come closer to the button.

"Don't touch that," he said, looking away only to slap Kaz' hand. Kaz immediately pulled his hand back, holding it with his other one. He looked up from his hand to his doppelganger, who continued to work behind the screen.

"Did you have to slap me?" Kaz wondered out loud.

"How else can I stop you from doing anything stupid?" Firefly asked. Kaz nodded.

"Good point," he said. There really was no other way to stop him from touching things he shouldn't touch. He looked at the screen and decided to take a look into the files of the computer. What else did he have to do around here? He found the file about Captain Atomic, because Cryo had left it opened and forgot to close it again, giving Kaz a chance to read it.

Everything was accurate, except for one minor detail. According to the file, he was classified as 'hero'. This confused him. Kaz was among heroes at this moment, and Captain Atomic went to the other side. He should be classified as a villain now, not as hero. They really should update these files, Kaz thought as he changed 'hero' to 'villain'. When Kaz saved the change, Firefly looked up.

"Stay away from that!" Firefly said. Kaz moved away from the computer, allowing Firefly to access it.

"Dude, what's your problem?" Kaz asked him. He noticed Firefly classified Captain Atomic as a hero again, undoing Kaz's change, before saving the change and closing the file. He then turned around and looked at Kaz. He sighed.

"I'm sorry," he said, "Cryo and I, we run this hospital. Nobody else wants to. Without Cryo, it isn't easy."

"Want me to help you with this?" Kaz offered. It looked like Firefly could use some help. He looked at the computer.

"Do you have experience documenting everything that happens to our patients?" Firefly wondered. Kaz opened his mouth, ready to say 'yes'. He closed his mouth and remembered he never did anything like that at home. Instead of saying 'yes' impulsively, he told Firefly he didn't have the experience.

"Then you can't help me," Firefly said. He thought a while before continuing to talk, "But we do need more doctors. Why don't you go walking around helping our patients? And if you find Brain Matter, please tell him to meet us this evening. It's very important."

Kaz accepted the job. It was something he was used to doing, something he had been yearning to do in this environment since the villains blew up the hospital. He walked away from behind the desks to the different patients, starting with Scarlet Ace. He continued to help people for a while until he realized they didn't pay him to do this anymore.


	4. Chaz, Gulliver and Captain Atomic

**Hello again, everyone. Here is the next chapter of the other world! I'm gonna stick with Oliver and Cryo today and next chapter will show us what Kaz (and Firefly) have done while their friends went after Chaz, Gulliver and Captain Atomic. So, for now, here are Cryo and Oliver fighting crime, after I've resplied to your reviews:**

 _LabRatsWhore:_ _Thanks for reviewing! True that. Either way, they've been around longer than the Davenports. Yes, Oliver went with Oliver and Kaz stays with Kaz. Yes he could, but I guess he also said it because it might be too boring and he doesn't look like the kind of person who'd do such a job. About Captain Atomic: tghat will be revealed within a few chapters and Cryo and Firefly just don't trust anyone else with the visitors. Brain Matter is not up to something, he just helps some friends achieve their goals._

 _PurpleNicole531:_ _I know that can be confusing, but everything about him will be explained eventually. Me neither - as I was writing the chapter, Kenny just suddenly popped up. I decided to keep him in the story. He could be of use... Firefly has to be more responsible and mature. What he's doing isn't easy. And yes, Kaz seriously should stop pushing buttons. Thanks for reviewing!_

 **Enjoy!**

 **-Writer207**

* * *

After five minutes of flying at a high speed, Oliver and Cryo arrived at the park. Oliver suggested looking for them at the railroads, but Cryo didn't want to do that because it was 'too open' and 'only a beginner would make such a mistake'. Oliver had no idea whether Cryo was talking about villains making such mistakes or about Oliver suggesting that. They continued to fly over the park, though a bit slower to be able to spot them. Not a minute later, Cryo slowed down and pointed at the ground.

"There they are," he said. Oliver looked at the ground and soon spotted the red, blue and white of Captain Atomic's suit. He couldn't see Chaz or Gulliver, probably because the trees shielded them from their sight. Captain atomic was looking everywhere, expecting an enemy from anywhere, except from the sky.

"This is what we're gonna do," Cryo then said, "I am going down there and I'll fight Captain Atomic. In the meantime, you'll take down Chaz and Gulliver. Okay?" Oliver nodded in response, but Cryo didn't wait to see or hear Oliver's answer. The hero descended to the ground while Oliver floated around, looking down to see what would happen.

As soon as the three noticed Cryo descending, Captain Atomic told the teenagers to run while he would buy them some time. Chaz and Gulliver nodded and ran away while Cryo landed on the ground. Both the hero and the villain advanced to one another until they both stopped walking.

"Captain Atomic!" Cryo said. Luckily, it was loud enough for Oliver to hear it, "You and I both know what's wrong and what's right. Stop the madness. Fight the serum. I'd rather have you as a friend."

Captain Atomic didn't hesitate to answer. "Me too," he said, "But I'm not doing this because someone or something forces me. There has to be a balance between good and evil and right now, it only works in your favor." Cryo crossed his arms.

"So _that_ is how you rectify your criminal activities." The captain opened his mouth to say something in return, but closed it in confusion.

"Criminal activities?" he repeated before figuring out what was going on. He looked up this time and noticed Oliver was floating above them. He immediately glared at Cryo. "Another doppelganger? Have you lost your mind?" Cryo sighed.

"They came to us. Unintentionally. We're trying to help them get back. But before you go back, Oliver, would you mind capturing Chaz and Gulliver? They're getting away." Oliver then remembered what he had to do and flew away. He would have liked to see how well Cryo would do against Captain Atomic, but that would be for another time. Right now, duty called and he had to take down Chaz and Gulliver, despite not having as much experience as he'd like. He did see how Cryo sent a blast of ice in Captain Atomic's direction before having to look in front of him again.

He spotted the duo soon as they were running some trees. Oliver decided to go a little further and land there. He sped up a bit until he was past the row of trees and then went straight for the ground. Once Chaz and Gulliver saw him come down, they turned around and ran away. Oliver didn't really notice it – he was too focused on landing to notice anything else. The first part went pretty well, but the last ten yards were too much for him. He came down, shouting, hoping the landing wouldn't hurt him too much.

He crashed hands first into the asphalt. He had landed on his stomach and now remained on the ground for a while before sitting on his knees. His hands and stomach were sore and hurt from the landing, but he couldn't let Chaz and Gulliver get away. _Man up, Oliver!_ He thought, _Heroes get hurt all the time. They don't stop pursuing villains because they got hurt a little._

Oliver looked and frowned in confusion. Chaz and Gulliver weren't running away anymore. They were still a considerable distance away from him, but they were staring at him in fear. He noticed Chaz stood closer to him than Gulliver.

"Let's get out of here," Gulliver said, but Chaz shook his head.

"Maybe we should wait," he responded, taking one step in Oliver's direction. Oliver wiped the dust off of his clothes and saw the two didn't move, but he knew they were too terrified to move – he's seen that expression a lot when civilians get caught in a battle. He then extended his hand in their direction with the intention to shoot ice in their direction. If Cryo can do it, then surely he can, too, right?

He focused all of his attention to the action and eventually created an ice cube, which fell from the palm of his hand to the ground. Oliver looked at it – he may not have been good with ice so far and never used it in combat, but making a piece of ice as big as an ice cube was a great accomplishment.

Chaz and Gulliver looked at one another. Gulliver shrugged before both turned back to Oliver. Chaz then spoke up. "Is that the best you can do?" It was meant to be provoking. Chaz said it as if he was genuinely curious whether Oliver could do better.

Oliver tried again, focusing harder this time. It resulted in three ice cubes on the ground next to the first one. "Oh, come on!" He said, looking at his hand. He knew he could do better. He should do better. Maybe he should've stuck with attacking with water.

"Are you a doppelganger?" Gulliver asked cautiously. Oliver looked at them and eventually nodded. Why should he keep it a secret? Apparently there had been more. Gulliver and Chaz looked at one another again and approached Oliver. Oliver didn't like this and took a step back.

"Oliver, we're not gonna hurt you," Gulliver said, "We just want to warn you."

"Warn me?"

"Yes," Gulliver said, "Warn you and whoever came with you, if someone came with you," He and Chaz were now at ten yards away from Oliver, who let his guard down. If they wanted to attack him, they would've already done it. Chaz and Gulliver let theirs down, too, now they were convinced Oliver wasn't going to attack them.

"You are siding with the wrong people," Chaz said. Before Oliver could ask what he meant with that, Gulliver provided the much needed information Oliver needed.

"Cryo and everyone in the hospital are the villains here," Gulliver said, "Captain Atomic, Chaz and I are heroes." Oliver frowned again. "Well, Chaz and I are not heroes yet, but we'll get there."

Oliver couldn't believe his ears. What they said confused him but at the same time, he could have known they would try something like this.

"How do I know you're not lying?" Oliver asked them.

"Would we lie to you?" Chaz then asked him. Oliver nodded.

"Yes, you would," he said, thinking about the Chaz and Gulliver from his own world. If they were anything like the ones who were standing right before him, lying was definitely one of their qualities. Chaz and Gulliver looked at each other again before turning back to Oliver.

"Are we villains in your world?" Gulliver asked, "Because that would explain why you act like that. Anyway, do not trust Cryo or Firefly or anyone at the hospital. There have been more doppelgangers. We're not sure what is going on, but you might be in danger." Oliver listened to what Gulliver had to say, but wasn't really looking at him. He preferred to look over Gulliver's shoulder, watching how Cryo was running closer until he was close enough to attack them.

Oliver was surprised how easy it looked when Cryo did it. Ice just flew out of his hands, effectively freezing their feet to the ground so they wouldn't be able to run away. They had been too distracted with Oliver to notice Cryo coming at them. Chaz and Gulliver turned their heads to see Cryo. He had come close enough to the boys to hit them in the faces. They both landed on the ground on either hands or butt. Before they could use their powers, Cryo took Gulliver's hands and froze them together before doing the same to Chaz.

Once he had finished, he turned to Oliver with a smile on his face.

"Good job," he said, "Distracting them so I could take them down. I suppose you're not that good at combat as I thought you'd be?" Oliver nodded.

"I've only done this three times," he admitted "and back then I only used my strength."

"I should've known," Cryo said, "I wasn't the best either when I first started to fight my enemies. In the end, it did work out for me. One day, it'll work out for you." He placed a hand on Oliver's shoulder and showed him a sympathetic smile. Oliver smiled back and then he looked at Chaz and Gulliver. They were trying to get back up, which wasn't too easy with their feet frozen to the asphalt. They were too occupied to say anything at all.

"Maybe you should've chosen Kaz to come with you and not me," Oliver said, not looking away from the two teenagers. Cryo turned around to see Chaz and Gulliver struggle to get up. After just a few seconds, he looked back at Oliver.

"To thaw my ice? No, I can do that by myself." Oliver's jaw dropped.

"You can thaw ice?"

"Well, not exactly," Cryo said, "I just change the molecular structure of ice so it turns into water when I touch it. I can also turn water into ice."

"Cool!" Oliver exclaimed. Even he couldn't do that, yet. Maybe it was one of the abilities they had yet to discover. After all, their fire and water-based powers manifested nine days after they touched the Arcturion.

"So, I'm gonna turn the ice at their feet in water. You're going to hold them from behind 'cause we can't let them escape. Then, we're going back to Captain Atomic, retrieve him and bring them to the hospital." Oliver nodded in agreement.

"So are we gonna fly home?" Cryo shook his head.

"In this case, that is not an option. I mean, if you have to fall to fly, we'd better walk. That's safer for everyone."

"Good point," Oliver admitted. He walked behind the two and helped both of them on their feet before grabbing their shirt. Cryo then kneeled and placed his hands on the two pieces of ice. Not much later, the ice had disappeared and left two pools of water on the asphalt.

Without saying anything else, Cryo walked away to where Captain Atomic was waiting for them. Before they could follow Cryo, Oliver and the two teenagers first had to turn around in order to go in the right direction. Oliver was surprised Chaz and Gulliver cooperated so willingly. There was no resistance from either boy. They also didn't talk anymore, except for this one line Chaz said.

"Be careful who to trust." That was all Chaz had said. Oliver pretended to ignore it, but deep down he wanted to know who was lying and who was telling the truth. There was no evidence that Cryo, Firefly and everyone else was evil. Until he had some answers, Oliver stuck with 'innocent until proven guilty'.

Eventually they arrived at the spot where Cryo had left Captain Atomic. Unlike the two boys, he could still stand and tried to break the ice around his wrists, but smashing it on the asphalt didn't really work. So far, it seemed Cryo liked to glue people to the ground with ice, as his feet were covered with it, too. His yo-yo lay on the ground, four yards away from him. He stopped trying to free himself as soon as he noticed Cryo walking to him while Oliver followed with Chaz and Gulliver. He didn't just give up, though.

When Cryo came closer to him, he tried to hit Cryo with his hands. Cryo just grabbed them to make him stop swinging them. The captain then pulled them back, making Cryo almost fall. He stayed on his feet, though, still holding the hands, making sure the captain wouldn't push them into his stomach.

"Hold still. We're just trying to help you," Cryo said. Captain Atomic could only glare at the boy.

" _You_ should be the one getting help," he responded. "One day, you'll finally know what the right things are and then, you'll regret every decision you've made and the path you've chosen is nothing but a nightmare haunting you."

"Poor old man," Cryo said, "We're gonna save you. You're going back to the hospital and we're gonna fix you. No matter how long it will take." Something changed. The captain stopped glaring, but still looked at Cryo. He waited a few seconds before saying anything in return.

"At least you'll be there when it happens," he said without any emotion. Cryo smiled.

"Glad to have you back, captain," he said, releasing his hands, "Please don't make it worse. Try not to attack us." He kneeled down, 'melted' the ice and then accompanied Captain Atomic to the hospital. Oliver followed him, still holding Chaz and Gulliver. The captain didn't try to escape or attack Cryo. So far, so good. Everything went smoothly.

While they were walking, Oliver was trying to make any sense of the last thing he heard Captain Atomic say. Was it the real Captain Atomic, breaking through the Annihilator's contamination serum? Or did he mean something else entirely? He remembered Skylar acting nice while she was secretly working for the Annihilator in his own world. Captain Atomic could do anything it takes to beat his enemies and maybe his plans include breaking free once he's where most of his enemies gather daily.

He decided not to think about too much and focus on making sure Chaz and Gulliver wouldn't try to escape. He could always discuss what he's heard with Kaz. He could just ask Cryo, but he didn't. Somehow Chaz and Gulliver succeeded in making him distrustful of Cryo. Right now, the only person he could and wanted to trust, was Kaz.

After a considerable amount of time walking, they were back at the hospital.


	5. Infiltration

**Hey everyone. I'm back with the next and (slightly) longer chapter of this story. After seeing what Oliver and Cryo have done, let's see what Kaz is doing in the hospital. Hopefully, he won't do anything stupid while he's waiting for Oliver to come back. But until we see that, I'll respond to your reviews:**

 _LabRatsWhore:_ _Thanks for reviewing! We'll see who's right and who's wrong sooner or later. Earth-2? That's a name I considered for this world, but I chose to just call it the other universe/world instead. Kaz and Oliver could've ended up in a world where everyone's a normo, or everyone's a hero. The possibilities are endless, really. Yeah, what he said is interesting, indeed. I hope your ankle doesn't hurt too much (and that the surgery went well)._

 _PurpleNicole531:_ _Yes, there have been others before. As for your other questions, answers will be given eventually (but not immediately). It was meant to be a little confusing and I can say this chater may be confusing as well in some ways. Thanks for reviewing!_

 _Shadow-wolf78:_ _Thanks for reviewing! Here's the next chapter._

 **Enjoy!**

 **-Writer207**

* * *

While Oliver was out to fight Captain Atomic, Chaz and Gulliver, Kaz stayed in the hospital. He had helped Firefly for less than ten minutes before he realized they would not pay him to do these things. What use was there to do things when people wouldn't pay him to do it? Sure, they were his friends and all and he loved doing this, but even from the short time he spent at this Mighty Med, everyone had seemed so tense. As if they all suddenly seemed angry and vengeful, not at all the way Kaz was used to back home. Either way, he got bored and didn't want to treat people who acted like they were irritated by everything and everyone. He walked off and went to see if everything else was the same. It was, with a few notable difference here and there. For example, there were a few rooms where people were strapped to their gurneys. One of those people was Experion.

Kaz could only look through the glass in the door. Experion turned his head to the door. He looked at Kaz, who was surprised to see how different Experion was. He was just lying there, not even attempting to break free from the chains. He was drowsy and stared at Kaz with this empty gaze. He soon turned his head into the previous position, continuing to stare at the ceiling.

If Kaz had been able to open that door, he would've talked to the guy, would've asked what had happened. Unfortunately, he didn't know the right combination of numbers required to open the lock and he had to leave Experion.

Kaz continued to explore the hospital until he walked into the cafeteria. It seemed much friendlier than the one at home. By the crumbs and the full trashcan, he concluded this cafeteria was used more frequently than the one at home. At least people come here, he thought. When he was about to turn around and leave, there was one surprise waiting for him.

"Hello." Kaz jumped up, startled by the person sitting there. the person who'd scared him was Kenny, grinning widely at the boy. He was sitting in a corner, close to the door, so people wouldn't immediately see him. Kaz guessed Kenny sat there and was doing it on purpose.

"Dude!" Kaz yelled, "Why?" Kenny leaned forward, placing his arms on the table in front of him.

"Because it's fun to see the scary be scared," he answered. Then, he slightly frowned. "Wait, are you the original?"

"Huh?" was Kaz' reply to that question. Kenny sighed.

"Are you from this world or the other one?" he asked, "I can never really tell, though your reaction to the question tells me you're today's visitor." Kaz nodded, still a little in shock because of Kenny.

"Yes, I am," he said, finally going closer to his brother's doppelganger, who had gone back to smiling.

"Awesome!" he reacted, "Nice to meet you. I'm Kenny, but you probably knew that. Unless I don't exist where you come from…" He looked at Kaz, hoping he'd tell him. and knowing Kaz, he'd soon start to speak.

"Well, you exist," Kaz said, "You're my brother… I mean, your doppelganger is my brother." Kaz let a soft 'wow' escape from his lips. He never thought it would be so weird to talk to people who look exactly like someone you knew, but wasn't that person at all. Kenny nodded.

"I know," he said, reacting as if he'd just read Kaz' mind, "It can get pretty darn confusing, right? Don't worry. Knowing Firefly, he'll do what he needs to do and then you're back home and you don't have to worry about us anymore." Kaz nodded and sat down on a chair across Kenny. Before he could say anything else, Kenny continued to talk. "Say, what am I like?"

"What?" Kaz said, blinking twice. Kenny shrugged.

"You heard me," he said, "What am I like in your world? We can't be that different, can we?"

Kaz tried to think of everything this counterpart has done and said already and compared the behavior with the Kenny he knew. Soon, he told this Kenny what the similarities and differences were. "I guess you're the same. Started out as a villain, became a hero. Only one with a terrible taste of humor."

Kenny shrugged, still smiling with glee. "What can I say? Scaring people is one of the few things I'm good at. Why not use it for my own amusement?" Then, a short pause followed, after which Kenny asked a follow-up question. "Wait… first villain, then hero?"

Kaz nodded, wondering why he'd want to put the emphasis on that exact order. "Yes, that's how it went," he said. At first, Kenny could keep a straight face but after a while, he was laughing so loudly he might wake up the patients on this hallway. All Kaz could do was frown.

"What's funny now?"

"I'm sorry, can't help it," Kenny said in between laughs. "It's just… you're so clueless." He continued to laugh, but it soon died out. All that was left, was the big smile on his face. "Kaz being clueless… thought I'd never see the day."

"Am I not that clueless here?" he asked and Kenny shook his head.

"Nope," Kenny said, popping the 'p', "Since my brother is kinda bad at introducing himself, I'll introduce him to you: he leads this place with Cryo. I mean, he kinda had to, everyone else was blown to smithereens. We'd be in big trouble if he were clueless." Kaz nodded. It was logical – if he and Cryo were the only two people left who could properly run this hospital, it would be impossible for him to be clueless.

"Why am I clueless again?" Kaz wondered.

"'Cause you have no idea what's truly going on here, now, do you?" Kenny raised an eyebrow and stared at Kaz.

"I do know what's going on," Kaz said. Okay, he may not know every single detail – like, why was Experion in this hospital? – but he more or less knew what was going on here. Kenny leaned back in his chair.

"Then explain," Kenny told him, folding his arms. "I'm listening."

Kaz didn't hesitate as he tried to explain what he knew of this world. "Firefly and Cryo brought us here and they're looking for the wormhole generator so Oliver and I can go home. I'm guessing everyone's acting a little tense because the secret's exposed. Except for you. You're strangely relaxed."

Kenny's eyes widened. "Relaxed?" he said, with a hint of surprise in his voice. "Well, I did take down Savage. Might as well take a break." Realizing he was trailing off, he soon went back to the topic. For the first time, he looked serious and shook his head.

"That story's not even close to what's happening here. I just have one more question: did you strand here or did Kaz pick you up?" Kaz frowned. He had no idea what the words were supposed to mean, but he did know that Firefly didn't pick him up. As if it had happened before.

"I was pressing buttons on our wormhole generator and we ended up here," Kaz eventually responded, deciding not to say anything about the second option until he knew more. Kenny nodded.

Kenny nodded. "That's a new one," he said. Kaz could only assume nobody's ever come to this universe by playing with a wormhole generator.

"If that's not what it's like here, then what _is_ going on?" Kaz then asked, realizing they were – once again – trailing off from the original topic. Kenny shrugged.

"Well, I _could_ tell you, but then Kaz and Oliver will be pissed. They told me I was never ever allowed to tell anyone about our biggest secret. So I'm totally gonna tell you." Kaz was taken aback when he heard that last part. After all that Kenny had said, he was certain Kenny wouldn't reveal what their 'biggest secret' was.

"Because it's a big secret?" Kaz asked, wondering if that was the reason why he'd reveal

"No. because Kaz didn't want me to tell anyone," he said in a matter-of-factly way. Kaz just went with it – sometimes he told people things, too, because people told him to never tell anyone else to see what happens. Without further ado, Kenny continued talking, leaning in a little closer, as did Kaz.

"So, this is what's going on around here," he began, "Kaz, Oliver and Brain Matter – and everyone else here for that matter – are…"

The door opened out of itself. The motion caught their attention. Kaz frowned. "That's weird."

Kenny stood up, unable to look at anything else yet but that door. "Kaz, close the door."

"What?"

"Do it now," he said, now walking to the middle of the small cafeteria. "I'll explain later." He was looking around, searching for something, but saw nothing. Kaz had no idea what Kenny was looking for, so he just did as he was told. He walked to the door and closed it. then he turned to Kenny.

"What now?" he asked. Kenny looked rather paranoid by the way he was looking around.

"We find the intruder," he said. When he glanced at Kaz, he could see this version of his younger brother was staring at him as if he'd said something weird. Kenny shrugged, looking away again. "What? You're not gonna tell me that door opened out of itself, are you? Someone opened it and that someone is in this room." Kaz shrugged.

"I don't see anyone," he said. Kenny stopped looking around for a minute and sighed, maybe a little bit too dramatically.

"Wow, you're really clueless," he said, "You can't _see_ him. He's invisible. If you feel something, _anything_ at all, you attack. Am I clear?" Kaz nodded, starting to look around, too. _Searching an invisible man… it's either true or he's seeing ghosts._

"Yes," Kaz then said. "But what do I aim for?"

"Just shut up," Kenny said. Kenny's command sounded so cold, so serious that Kaz didn't dare to talk. During this complete silence, they barely heard anything. For a while, this silence persisted until they heard something coming from the direction of the counter. Kenny didn't hesitate. Almost immediately, he took his flamethrowers and shot fire in the general direction of the noise.

The next moment, as soon as the flames had died out, Kaz could hear a loud yell from the direction the noise had come. Then, a young man was laying on the ground, holding his right elbow with his left hand. He couldn't immediately get up – he was in too much pain to think about anything else but the pain.

Kaz could only look horrified while Kenny grinned widely. "Gotcha," he said, lookin down at his victim. "Chameleon. Why am I not surprised?" Kaz had never met him, but he did know about him through comic books and the stories his brother told him. He always had been portrayed as a small, young, cowardly man who always wore a cowl. This version was different. He didn't wear a specific suit, but he wasn't wearing his cowl either. Just jeans, shoes, T-shirt and a coat.

"One of your friends?" Kaz asked. If his look was different, then maybe his relationships were, too. Kenny didn't respond, but Chameleon did.

"Not anymore," he said. The burn still hurt, but he gritted his teeth and hoped the pain would fade away soon. Kenny nodded in agreement.

"What he said," Kenny said, then turned to Chameleon. "Look, I don't know what you're planning to do in here, but I don't care. It's good to see you again." The tone of his voice was cold, though he may really like seeing Chameleon again for whatever reason. The look in his eyes didn't help either – they were cold, too, calculated, glaring at Chameleon, who was still laying on the ground.

"I'd hoped you had already come to your senses," Chameleon said with some difficulty, "We don't have to fight, you know?" A silence followed, only interrupted by some groans escaping Chameleon's mouth. Kenny took one step in his victim's direction and then knelt down. for a second, Kaz believed Kenny would continue to hurt him.

"You're right," Kenny then said, surprising Kaz and confusing Chameleon, "Just admit you helped killing her and I'll show mercy." Kaz looked from Kenny to his victim, remembering what Cryo had told them not an hour ago. No wonder Kenny didn't like this guy. Chameleon took his time to look Kenny in the eyes, trying to be as pitiful as possible.

"So you still believe that lie," he said. It looked like he was getting used to the pain – it seemed he had less problems talking than before. Kenny shook his head.

"Funny," Kenny reacted. "Funny. I was going to tell you to stop lying. Now tell me, what part did you play when you helped to kill her?" He took a small pause before adding: "Please hurry up. I'm losing my patience." He emphasized every word of that last phrase. Chameleon didn't look away, may be looking for the man he once called his friends.

"What part I played?" Chameleon repeated before answering. "I tried to protect her. We all did." Slowly, he reached for his left arm, trying to ignore the pain in his right arm. Slowly, to make the pain minimal, he rolled up his sleeve until the elbow. It was more than enough to see what had happened to it. Even from that distance, Kaz could see it was a burn wound, one that was well on its way of healing, even if it would always leave a scar.

"Look at this," Chameleon said calmly, "Firefly gave that to me. He nearly killed me while I tried to protect her. Would've been dead, too, if I hadn't decided to stay down a little longer. Firefly killed her, not us."

Kenny remained silent for a while. Eventually he stood up, continuously watching Chameleon, afraid he'd disappear if he looked away for even a split-second. There was only one word necessary to describe what Kenny believed was the truth.

"Liar," Kenny said calmly. With the press of a button, flames rose out of his left flamethrower. Chameleon started to tremble, his eyes widened and his face turned a bit paler than it first was.

"I-I'm not lying!" Chameleon yelled loudly, hoping it would somehow stop Kenny from hurting him. "Kenny, would I lie to you? Would I?" He sounded desperate, almost begging him not to do anything. Kenny didn't move, let the flames escape from the flamethrower still. The small flames went up in the air, hurting nobody and setting nothing on fire, yet.

"Yes, you would," Kenny said, taking one more step in his direction. "What are you doing here?"

"Can't I just watch my old friend descend into madness?" Kaz seemed as surprised as Chameleon when the victim said these words out loud. Kenny shook his head again.

"Wrong answer," he said. He finally moved his left arm, aiming for Chameleon with the flames. Kaz could only watch, transfixed in immobility by the scene. Chameleon covered his face with his good arm – the left one – and he pulled up his knees to his chest. He was lucky he could only feel the heat of those flames as they missed him by just an inch, hitting the ground and counter behind him.

Kaz looked from the trembling Chameleon to his brother's doppelganger when he pulled back the flames. It was as if he didn't even care how much he'd hurt his old companion. Kaz could only describe the look in his eyes as 'villainous'.

"I'm gonna ask you again," the Incinerator said, "and this time I expect nothing but the truth. So, what are you doing here?" In a situation like this, everyone would talk. Well, everyone but Chameleon. He just lay there, hoping and praying for some help, not saying anything at all. Kenny shrugged and sighed, as if he meant to say 'what am I supposed to do with you?' Then, he repeated what he'd done before. This time, he may have come a little closer to the victim. Once he pulled the flames back again, Chameleon had to put out one small flame on his pants.

"For everyone's benefit, you'd better talk now," the Incinerator said, "This is your final chance. If I were you, I'd talk." There was a short silence, which Chameleon used to look up and back into the Incinerator's eyes. Kaz took the opportunity to step closer to the scene, though not too close to the crazy doppelganger. He had to admit his brother's counterpart scared him.

"Please…" Chameleon said, begging for him to stop, "You're making a big mistake…" He didn't need to say more. He couldn't say more. The Incinerator started talking again, giving Chameleon no chance to say anything else.

"Please," the Incinerator started, a smile appearing on his face, "do tell Savage he won't be alone anymore." Before he even realized what he was doing, Kaz came closer as fast as he could and soon, he stood between the Incinerator and Chameleon. The doppelganger pulled away the flames before he could hurt Kaz.

"You can't do this," Kaz said. The Incinerator rose an eyebrow.

"Why not?" he asked him, as if he was ready to push Kaz out of the way, or even burn him if he didn't obey. Kaz hadn't tested if he was completely invulnerable to fire and not just his hands, but he wasn't ready to figure that out.

"I, er…" Kaz began, thinking about anything that might save the victim. "There could be more of them?" For not it was the best he could come up with. Fortunately, the Incinerator nodded.

"Maybe," he said, "He usually doesn't come alone." Kaz sighed in relief. Thank goodness! "But I'm not convinced," the Incinerator added. _Dang it, I phewed too early!_ Kaz thought. The Incinerator pushed him out of the way. Before he could actually fry the poor victim, Kaz had come up with another reason to let him live.

"Wait" he yelled, "He can still be useful!" The Incinerator stopped with the move. His hand stayed still in the air, flames raging around it. It stayed there for a few long seconds before he let the flames disappear and he pulled his hand back to his side.

"Chameleon, you should thank this kid," he said, "You're still alive because of him." Then, he turned around and walked towards the door. Kaz took the opportunity to turn around and help Chameleon stand up. The victim was sobbing now, relieved he was safe. He clung onto Kaz, as if he'd lose his life if he let go. Once he stood back on his feet, he immediately grabbed Kaz into a tight hug, sobbing into Kaz's shoulder. He was trying to say the same two words over and over again. "Thank you…" All Kaz could do in this situation, was pat him on the back. After all, he had no idea how to react properly to a situation like this, since he's never been in such a situation before.

"It's okay," he said, patting the back. The Incinerator rolled his eyes when he saw what was going on there and sighed.

"Bring him to the lobby," the Incinerator said, "I'm going to activate the alarm. Like I said, he never comes alone." Then, he opened the door and left the cafeteria. Kaz remained in the cafeteria for a while as he tried to calm Chameleon down. Not one minute later, the lights in the Mighty Med turned red and in the distance, they could hear the alarm. The hunt for his friends had begun, if they even were here. Eventually, Chameleon pulled back. His eyes were red and the last tears were still rolling down his cheeks.

"Are you okay now?" Kaz asked and Chameleon nodded, looking at the ground. once he looked up and watched Kaz, he talked again.

"Are you going to let me escape?" Kaz blinked in surprise. After all that had happened to him, he wasn't surprised Chameleon asked him that question. It was just a question with an answer that couldn't be answered with a simple 'yes' or 'no'.

"I…" Kaz stammered, not sure how to continue. Fortunately, he didn't have to.

"I get it," Chameleon said, "You're afraid of him, too, right?" Kaz nodded.

"I'm sorry," he said.

"It's okay," Chameleon responded, "You did everything you could." Then, they too left the cafeteria and were now walking to the lobby, where the Incinerator would be waiting for them. The red lights were turned off and the alarm stopped blaring – they had either caught Chameleon's friends or they hadn't found anyone.

When they were almost there, Chameleon suggested that Kaz would hold onto the back of his shirt, to make it believable. Kaz agreed with it and they continued the last hallway as prisoner and guard. Kaz only felt pity for Chameleon. He wished he could just let go, let Chameleon slip out of his fingers, let him escape – but he couldn't, and that was the Incinerator's fault. When he first saw his brother's doppelganger, he wouldn't have been afraid. Now, he could only obey the order he was given. He wanted to let him go, but seeing Kenny like that… he shuddered once he thought back at what he's seen.

He was too caught up thinking all this to barely miss hearing someone scream in agony – no, not someone, it was the Incinerator. Before they turned around the last corner, Kaz thought of how weird it was to hear your brother scream while you knew he was fine.

Chameleon didn't come all alone. Flamebird and Machine had come, too, and they had been caught as well. Flamebird was kept at bay by Tecton while Firefly was keeping Machine in line. The Incinerator was sitting on the ground, standing up with a grouchy look in his eyes, aimed at Machine. Firefly held Machine with one hand – there must be something keeping her arms behind her back – while the other one was close to her face, with the hand opened and flames dancing on the palm. Machine tried to pull her head as far away from the flames as possible.

"Thought so," Firefly said as he closed his hand and used it to hold Machine. Whatever she had done that would've left the Incinerator screaming and fall to the ground, he didn't know. All he knew about that girl was that she pursued the Incinerator back in his own world, that she could manipulate people's emotions and attack people with mental blasts. _Yeah, that's what must've happened._

"There you are," The Incinerator said once he saw Kaz and Chameleon. "I was already wondering where you'd be going." He stepped closer to the duo and grabbed Chameleon with his coat. Kaz had to let go of him when the Incinerator yanked him to the other side of the room so he could stand with the other two.

Then, the Crusher walked into the room. "There you are!" Firefly exclaimed. While he and the Crusher were discussing why they were so late, Kaz noticed Machine was looking at Chameleon, who was still shaking, holding his head low. As the conversation continued and Machine kept looking at him, he started shaking less. His breath became more regular and he started holding his head higher. He'd become a bit calmer. Once he realized what was going on, Firefly and the Crusher had stopped talking. He nodded once in her direction.

"Let's go!" Firefly said, pushing Machine into the Crusher's hands. "You'll spend the rest of your lives in Mighty Max. enjoy your stay." After these words, the Crusher, the Incinerator and Tecton brought what was left of Machine's crew to the prison underneath the hospital. Kaz stared at them until they were out of sight.

He was left shocked of what has happened no ten minutes ago, even if he didn't know why those three were here in the first place.


	6. Strange behavior

**Hey guys! I'm back for the next chapter of "the other world". Prepare for a not too spectacular, but still (kind of) important chapter. So, Kaz and Oliver are reunited and ready to tell each other what they've done in each other's absence. But first, here are my replies to your reviews:**

 _LabRatsWhore:_ _Thanks for reviewing! Wow, that sucks. Hope you've gotten used to pushing it yourself or have some friends helping you out at school. Maybe, maybe not, but you are coming close. And yes, that's what he was talking about. There won't be a lot of Experion, though what happened to him will be revealed soon._

 _PurpleNicole531:_ _I know, right? Things are weird. And really tricky, too. Who knows what's going to happen next for them? I can tell you you're coming close. Thanks for reviewing!_

 _Shadow-wolf78:_ _Thanks for reviewing! Well, there are enough clues to figure it out and you're getting closer, but you'll find out next chapter._

 **Enjoy!**

 **-Writer207**

* * *

There was barely time to think about what had happened, since Oliver and Cryo returned with their prisoners not much later. Kaz raised an eyebrow once they entered the hospital, three of them bound to ice at their wrists. Oliver was holding Chaz and Gulliver in place while Cryo helped Captain Atomic sit on a nearby gurney. Both the captain and Chaz and Gulliver seemed exhausted and unwilling to do anything anymore. They held their heads low and refused to make eye contact. Captain Atomic sat there, bent over, but he did look at the hand Cryo put on his shoulder.

"Wait here. I'll get someone to pick you up. Everything will be okay. Soon, you'll be back to your old self." Cryo released his grip on Captain Atomic and he stepped towards Chaz and Gulliver. He took them from Oliver, who finally had his hands free again. "You two," Cryo continued talking, "are going to Mighty Max. Oliver, Kaz, you make sure the captain doesn't go anywhere, okay?" Without waiting for an answer, he walked away from them, pushing his newest prisoners ahead of him. Captain Atomic watched Cryo walk away and once he was out of sight, he immediately turned his head to Kaz and Oliver.

"You are the doppelgangers, right?" he asked them.

"Yes, that's us," Kaz answered. Captain Atomic nodded. He straightened his back – he dropped the part he'd been playing and went from desperate prisoner to a proud man who didn't take no for an answer.

"Good," he said, even sounding more confident. "We need to talk, but not under these circumstances. You never know who will listen. No, we'll have to hold a conversation in private." Oliver and Kaz didn't need to look at each other to know what the other was thinking.

"Okay," Oliver said, "But when do you—"

"Hush," the captain interrupted him, half whispering, "Someone's coming!" Within seconds, the proud man disappeared and the man whom Cryo had brought to the hospital was back, letting his shoulders hang and looking at the floor. Oliver and Kaz stared in awe after seeing him transform like that, wondering how he could do that so easily. But they snapped out of it when, as the captain predicted, someone walked into the lobby to come and collect Captain Atomic.

It was Tecton. He wore a smile on his face and it grew bigger when he saw his former friend sitting there on a gurney, doing nothing in enemy territory, seemingly having lost all hope.

"Cap! Good to see you again," he said. Captain Atomic continued to stare at the ground, pretending not to hear anything he said and giving no reaction. Tecton sighed and helped him stand, getting off of the gurney. he broke the ice holding his wrists together. The captain started rubbing his wrists – it had been a little too cold for his liking – and still didn't look as Tecton continued talking.

"You're conflicted, right? Being good or being evil is a personal choice. Someone else made that decision for you. He made you feel miserable." The captain turned his head to Tecton's, but still didn't directly look him in the eyes. Tecton put both hands on Captain Atomic's shoulders. "We're gonna make you better, that's a promise. C'mon." He pulled his hands away and they started to walk away. Captain Atomic followed Tecton, giving him one more chance to look at the visitors before turning his head and going out of sight.

The lobby was deserted – only Kaz and Oliver were there, though someone could walk in at any given moment. The hallways were busy, as they heard footsteps, peeping wheels and people chatting. Fortunately, nobody came in. And even if they did come in, Kaz and Oliver minded what they said to make sure nobody would listen to their secret conversation.

"So," Kaz began, "how did it go?"

"They were easy to catch," Oliver admitted, "but Cryo did all the work."

"Did they distract you or did he tell you to just watch?" Kaz wondered. Oliver shook his head.

"Neither," he replied, "It's just… they said weird things. First Captain Atomic was surprised when Cryo mentioned his criminal activities, then Chaz and Gulliver told me they were the heroes and everyone in here are villains. They said there have been more doppelgangers in this universe and the captain implied that, too." Kaz nodded once Oliver was done talking, some pieces falling into place while other spots were left in the dark.

"So that's why everyone here seems ruthless," he said. Oliver frowned, wondering what Kaz meant with those words.

"What happened when I was gone?" he eventually asked him. Kaz had a serious look on his face while he was talking.

"Kenny almost killed Chameleon," he said, emphasizing his brother's name, "He _tortured_ him to get information. He wouldn't believe Firefly killed his wife…" He paused, looking at Oliver, who had no idea what Kaz was talking about. Kaz continued, providing some backstory. "Chameleon mentioned he wasn't behind her death, but the other me. The body's been burned, but Kenny blames Flamebird. That friend, Flamebird and Machine have been brought to Mighty Max. It's getting really confusing. I don't know who to believe anymore."

Oliver opened his mouth to react, but closed it as soon as he saw a nurse walking into the room. As silence may be suspicious for two best friends, Oliver started to discuss how he missed home and would want to see Gus and Jordan again. It was true – they hadn't spent a lot of time with either ever since they've touched the Arcturion and survived the attack on the hospital. Kaz tagged along once he noticed the nurse had entered the room. As soon as she left, they continued their conversation.

"Me neither," Oliver said, agreeing with Kaz, "I don't think we _can_ trust anyone in this hospital anymore."

"What about Captain Atomic?" Kaz suggested, "You saw what he did. Sure, he's being a little secretive, but not towards us. That, and he's an enemy of Cryo and Firefly. I don't trust them, but I trust the captain instead."

"Good idea, Kaz," Oliver said, a smile appearing on his face. The captain could provide some much needed answers. "We really have to talk to him," he added. Before either of them could say anything else, Firefly walked into the lobby. They turned around and didn't dare to look away. He had a smile on his face, though the visitors were certain it could be a feigned one.

"Hey Kaz. Oliver," he greeted them, "I heard what you did to capture Chaz, Gulliver and the captain. Good job."

"Thank you," Oliver said. He didn't move, and neither did Kaz. They had their arms folded and Oliver slowly started tapping his feet. Firefly frowned upon seeing this kind of behavior.

"Are you okay?" he asked them and the two visitors looked at one another. Fortunately for them, Firefy answered his own question. "Who am I kidding? Of course you're not. You're stranded in a weird universe where things are strangely familiar and so different at once."

Kaz and Oliver nodded quickly, agreeing with that feeling. Firefly didn't seem to notice, as he continued talking as if he hadn't paused for a few seconds. He looked straight at the two. "Which reminds me to tell you that we haven't found the wormhole generator yet. I'm sorry, I looked everywhere but I can't seem to find it. I hope you don't mind."

"It's fine," Kaz said. firefly smiled at them.

"Great!" There was a short silence before Firefly continued talking, "Wait a second. Maybe Brain Matter can build a new one. I mean, he's an incredible engineer and probably could make one."

"He can?" Oliver wondered out loud. They knew about Brain Matter's entire career, but never had he come close to building something which could move people through space and time. He had been trying, but so far there was no success. They'd probably only get to make one by combining the three smartest superheroes and one incredible engineer to figure it out.

Firefly nodded. "Sure," he said, "What if we just go to him and see what he can do, okay?"

"I don't know if that's a good idea," Kaz said, remembering his first encounter with the hero. Firefly shrugged.

"Is there something wrong?" he asked them, "Wait, doesn't he exist in your world? Or is he—" He stopped talking as soon as the double doors slid open, revealing two heroes walking into the place, even if that's a bit of an overstatement. Gamma Girl and Surge entered the building. Surge leaned on Gamma Girl, who made sure the hero wouldn't fall. Surge was worst of out of the two. There were visible cuts and bruises. He coughed loudly as he limped into the hospital.

Firefly's eyes widened. He watched for a second and then jumped into action. He came closer, helping Gamma Girl to put him onto a gurney. He seemed genuinely concerned about his well-being. "You found Surge," he exclaimed, happy to have him back, "Where'd you find him?"

"On the streets," Gamma Girl answered while Kaz did a quick version of a routine check to see if the guy truly was okay. "He stumbled into me. Couldn't stop talking about 'having to escape'."

Kaz and Oliver tried to follow the conversation, but they couldn't. The alarm went off and the lights turned red, warning them there could be an intruder. They focused on that instead of what Gamma Girl had to say to Firefly. Soon, they could hear a male voice laugh in an evil manner. Not much later, Benny hastily ran around the corner and, as soon as possible, sat down.

"No, no, no, no, no!" he exclaimed, furiously typing codes on one of the computers. It took him about one minute to stop the alarm from blaring, but the lights were still red. Benny grunted, trying his hardest to turn the lights back to normal as well. Kaz and Oliver didn't know what to think, though they suspected Wi-Fi had something to do with it.

Their suspicion was confirmed when a voice spoke directly to the technician. "Catch me if you can," Wi-Fi taunted him with a sing-song voice. Kaz and Oliver didn't know what the villain had done, but the number of curses they heard coming out of Benny's mouth must be corresponding to the number of things Wi-Fi messed with. They didn't know whether to hope Benny would solve the problem or to root for Wi-Fi invading their servers.

Either way, Surge and Benny provided the distraction they needed and the two visitors left the lobby to look for Captain Atomic.

"Found him," Oliver said after five minutes. Kaz came from the other side of the corridor. They looked through the small window and saw how the captain was laying in his bed. He tried to sit straight, but Cryo – who was in the same room – pushed him back down as he put restraints on the guy's legs before moving to restraining the captain's arms.

"Where have I seen this before?" Kaz wondered to himself. The set-up of the room was something he'd seen before, though he couldn't really remember where. Oliver hadn't heard Kaz say this and pushed the door handle. Their attempts to open the door were useless. The door was locked and they couldn't get in.

"Boys!" a voice from behind said. Kaz and Oliver jumped up in surprise and turned around. it was Tecton. "What are you doing here?"

"We, er…" Oliver said, "We just wanted to talk to the captain."

"We have a few questions for him," Kaz added and Oliver nodded in agreement. Tecton looked from one boy to the other and then back at the other.

"I'm sorry," he said, "but I can't let you enter. The captain needs to rest."

"But…" Kaz began, but Tecton interrupted him.

"No," he said. "I can't let you in. But you could help Brain Matter. He needs some help. He's in the workshop."

"Okay," Oliver said. He then walked away, Kaz following him. He looked behind him once and saw how Tecton didn't move away from the door, standing there as a guard. Once they were far enough to be sure Tecton wouldn't hear them, Kaz started talking.

"We're not going to Brain Matter, are we?"

"Of course we're not," Oliver confirmed, "Something weird's going on here. First, Firefly wants to take us to Brain Matter and now Tecton tells us to go to him."

"Yeah, that _is_ weird," Kaz said. "We have to talk to the captain. He can tell us what's going on," he added after a short pause. Oliver nodded in agreement.

"We go in the middle of the night. There's a smaller chance to get caught there," Oliver suggested and Kaz agreed with that idea. They walked back to the lobby and tried to avoid going to the workshop and having to see Brain Matter. Whatever was going on, that man apparently played a central role.

While they were walking to the lobby, Kaz looked at his side and accidentally caught another glimpse of Experion. During that one second, he was still laying in the same way Kaz had left him. At that moment, more pieces fell into place. _That's why it looked familiar,_ he thought about the set-up of machines and other medical instruments in Captain Atomic's room. It was an exact copy of what they were doing to Experion.

Kaz suddenly feared the same would happen to the captain in the short period of time between their latest and next meeting.


	7. Finally, the truth

**Here I am again! And from this moment forward, I hope things will start to finally - hopefully - make sense. But who am I to say Kaz and Oliver will figure out what's going on. And is the captain really a reliable source? To trust or not to trust, that's the question. And to find out the answer, you'll have to wait until after my responses to know what is going on:**

 _LabRatsWhore:_ _Thanks for reviewing! That's very kind of them. And good for you! Glad to hear you're doing well. Maybe they will, maybe they won't. Very unlikely with Tecton guarding the captain and others walking around in the hospital._

 _Shadow-wolf78:_ _Well, here is the next chapter. It's gonna be exciting! Thanks for reviewing!_

 _PurpleNicole531:_ _Thanks for reviewing! First, they'll have to get past Tecton and something tells me he's not going to make it easy for them. They sure are pressured to do that. You know, you're coming closer and closer to what is going on there. You're good!_

 **Enjoy!**

 **-Writer207**

* * *

About half an hour before midnight, Kaz and Oliver snuck out of the hospital room they were offered to stay in. Apparently, some people lived here, so they wouldn't make a big fuss about two people spending the night in an unoccupied room. Kaz and Oliver took the offer – it would make it easier to go to the captain.

Oliver walked up front, Kaz following behind him. They went as fast as they could without making too much noise. A lot of people stayed for the night and they didn't want to wake them up. They also didn't dare to put on the lights, which were turned off. The visitors guessed this hospital didn't have a night shift anymore and were glad about it – there was a smaller chance of getting caught by personnel.

After a while, they had arrived near Captain Atomic's room. They peeked around the corner to see if there was anyone there. Unfortunately, there was Tecton, standing in front of the door. They pulled their heads back and hoped Tecton hadn't seen them.

"Great," Kaz whispered as softly as possible, since he didn't know if Tecton was listening, "What do we do now?"

Oliver shrugged. "We wait."

Kaz stared at his friend, a bit of disbelief visible in his eyes. "Wait?" he said, "But how long will it take?" He needed the answers the captain might provide them and then maybe this world can start making sense. Until then, they apparently had to wait for Tecton to move. Trying to fight him would be pointless, anyway, and would attract unnecessary attention.

"I dunno," Oliver said, shaking his head, "It all depends on when he leaves." Kaz nodded in agreement and they waited. About a minute later, they heard footsteps. The sound grew fainter with every next step. Kaz stepped closer to the hallway and peeked into it from behind the corner.

"Do you mean, like, right now?" Kaz asked, walking into the hallway. Oliver watched him with wide eyes and first stayed behind the corner. "Tecton's gone," Kaz then added, prompting Oliver to look around the corner and see that Tecton indeed had walked away from the captain.

"We can't be that lucky," Oliver muttered. Tecton could hear people talk from a far greater distance than they had been. If he wanted them to stay away, why didn't he come to them? He also thought it was truly convenient he left right as they had arrived.

Whatever made Tecton leave, they could use his absence to their advantage. Kaz and Oliver walked up to the door. They looked through the small window. The captain was asleep, with machines attached to him. Oliver grabbed the doorhandle and pushed it down. Nothing happened. Kaz then grabbed it and pushed and pulled, but the door wouldn't budge.

At least Oliver now knew why Tecton left so easily – they couldn't do a lot about a locked door. Kaz eventually let go of the handle and turned himself to Oliver. He looked at his friend and folded his arms.

"Go on, then," he said. Oliver frowned in confusion.

"What?" Oliver asked.

"Freeze the keyhole," Kaz then specified. Oliver looked from his friend to the keyhole and back to his friend.

"What?" he repeated and Kaz sighed.

"The door is locked and we don't have a key. If you freeze it, maybe we can break it open." That was actually quite a good idea. People have opened locks before by freezing and then smashing it. Then again, those were locks, not keyholes. And there was one more problem.

"I can't do that," Oliver said out loud, remembering his previous attempt to create ice earlier that day.

"Yet?" Kaz asked him, but Oliver shook his head.

"No, not at all," he had to admit, "Besides, if it works, it'll make too much noise." They'd have to shatter the ice and drawing unwanted attention wasn't what they wanted.

"But what if I melt the lock?" Kaz then suggested. Oliver shook his head, almost unnoticeable by Kaz.

"Do you really think that that will work?" he asked his best friends. Kaz sighed.

"Do you have any better idea?" Kaz asked. Oliver wanted to open his mouth, but kept it closed. There was nothing to say anyway, since he didn't have any other idea. Well, he thought about finding the keys, but that would take too much time. Kaz raised his eyebrows. "Thought so," Kaz said. He lit up his hand and directed them into the lock. He was careful not to damage the door too much or set it ablaze. It took him a few minutes before the keyhole was melted and they could enter. Kaz was the only one who could touch the handle – it was way too hot for Oliver – and he pressed it down, opening the door.

They stepped into the room and Kaz closed the door behind him. They couldn't risk putting on the lights. There always was a chance someone sees the lights and comes to investigate. So they continued in the dark. Luckily, their eyes had already adjusted to the darkness from sneaking through the corridors. From what they could see, the captain was asleep (or unconscious, they weren't sure) and there were several machines connected to him. Kaz and Oliver went closer to him.

Most people looked peaceful when they were asleep. The same couldn't be said about Captain Atomic. He looked like he could cry at any given moment, eyes pinched close and slightly shaking.

"Hey, cap," he whispered, but continued talking a bit louder. "We're here. Time to wake up." The captain didn't react to anything he said, so Oliver found no other way to wake him up than placing his hand on the shoulder and softly shaking it. He also kept telling him to wake up. In the meantime, Kaz saw they were bringing some sort of fluid into the captain's bloodstream. It was a fluid he didn't recognize and so chose to disconnect it from the patient.

Not much later, the captain stirred. Oliver ceased talking and he and Kaz watched the captain wake up. It all went rather slowly, but they let him take his time. First his eyes opened, but he still looked drowsy when he looked around in confusion.

"What the…" he said softly, trying to sit up. He soon lay down again, unable to try for too long. The restraints at his wrist might have something to do with it. Oliver and Kaz, still a little wary about him, didn't release him. You never know, especially since they couldn't trust anyone and so far, they couldn't fully trust the captain yet.

"Hey," Kaz then said, speaking as softly as the captain had spoken. "Are you okay?" Captain Atomic nodded and looked at the two visitors.

"Visitors or not?" the captain asked them with a hoarse voice. Then, Oliver and Kaz both nodded.

"Yeah, that's us," Oliver said, "We're from the other world, we—"

"I'm sorry," the captain interrupted him, "I don't feel…" he paused to yawn and then continued to talk. "I'm just tired…"

"So that's what they're doing," Kaz said, trying to piece together what is going on with what he saw, heard and knows about this world. "They make you tired. People don't resist when they're tired." Oliver was willing to accept that theory – it wasn't easy to figure out what the equipment in the room was for without turning out the lights. But that was before the captain responded.

"No…" he said "It's worse…" Oliver and Kaz looked at each other.

"How can it be worse?" Oliver asked.

"Hard to explain," the captain answered. Oliver and Kaz guessed it wasn't too easy to explain because he kept pausing, as if he wasn't able to talk too long without having to pause. They silently decided to ask him later, if he was more awake.

"So, what did you want to tell us?" Kaz asked him. Oliver immediately specified, so the captain got the time to wake up.

"Let's begin with the people here in the hospital," he said, "Who – or what – are they?"

The captain turned his head to face Oliver. "Villains," he said, "They're all villains…"

Oliver and Kaz looked at one another again. So they were all villains – Tecton, Benny, the Incinerator, Cryo and Firefly… all evil. It explained a lot, especially their odd behavior sometimes. And then Chaz and Gulliver, Machine's crew and those Roman and Riker guys, they should be the good guys of this world. How could Kaz and Oliver have been so blind?

"But shouldn't you be a villain, too, then?" Kaz wondered out loud. The captain tried to nod, but didn't succeed. He did answer the question.

"I was," he said, having les trouble talking by now, though still some, "Then I met the Annihilator."

"And he made you a hero," Kaz finished that sentence and then frowned. "The Annihilator is a hero, that's weird." The captain seemed to ignore what Kaz had said. He continued talking as if Kaz had never spoken at all.

"He made me feel guilt… and remorse… I regretted everything I've done. The serum wore off a long time ago… It's my choice to stay good." The effect of the fluid was wearing off, allowing the captain to say more and speak longer.

"They still want you to be evil again," Oliver said. Why else would they keep him here?

"They want everyone the Annihilator converted," the captain said. "That's what that liquid is for. It shows us what we were until we become those people again. Most of them broke down. Tecton, Blue Tornado… some resist. Experion is doing well." Kaz and Oliver couldn't imagine what it was like, seeing every evil thing that has ever happened to you play out right in front of you, all the time without break. Maybe that's why he was uneasy in his sleep.

"So that's what they're doing to Experion," Kaz said. They were breaking his mind. What Kaz remembered from seeing him lay on the gurney, they had already gotten far. Captain Atomic nodded in confirmation.

"What about Skylar Storm?" Oliver then asked. He couldn't bear not to know any longer. "In our world, the Annihilator took away her powers and made her evil, like yours turned you good. What happened to her?" The captain thought about the question, trying to remember what he knew about Skylar Storm. Every passing second felt like ages, especially now the captain would reveal what happened to this world's Skylar.

Eventually, he answered, "She never was a hero. Always the nuisance, always with evil intentions. She never worked together with other villains, preferred to do it on her own. When she was seen with others, she was using them for something, manipulated them into doing what she wanted. She got Cryo and Firefly to give her her powers back. She is the one villain with the highest body count. She was, no, _is_ one of the most ruthless villains I have ever encountered." His voice was filled with fear as he talked about her. Now Oliver understood why they didn't want anyone to mention Skylar. She's gone and Cryo hadn't taken it well.

"You're using past tense," Oliver noticed. His heart did a double-take, fearing the worst had happened to her. The captain nodded.

"She's left the planet," he explained, "She's very much alive, just not on Earth anymore. Went to conquer the universe. She promised to never return. Too much competition." Oliver sighed in relief. Okay, this version of Skylar was an evil villain, but at least she was safe and sound somewhere else, conquering planets and leaving Earth behind for good.

"The heroes back home are villains here…" Kaz began, trying to make sense of something he only recently realized. "Then this is not fair. How come the villains are in this hospital? It's meant for heroes!" The same people walked through the familiar corridors, but with completely different intentions.

"We built this," Captain Atomic said, "They own it. It never belonged to the heroes." Okay then. The villains built this hospital. That's probably why there isn't so much security at the outside – who would want to attack the villains in their base? Nobody is stupid enough to do that.

"Where are they?" Oliver then asked, "Where are the heroes? How can we find them?" Captain Atomic thought about the question. He knew, but the real question was whether he'd tell them or not. The walls could have ears – or Tecton could be listening. You never know. Eventually, he did say something.

"I cannot tell you. Somebody has to take you there." He looked at one piece of equipment, one with a small screen connected to the internet. "They will come soon anyway."

"Dude, you're not making sense," Kaz said, "What do you mean, they'll come soon?"

"You'll see," the captain said, and that's the last he had to say about it. There wouldn't be another opportunity to talk about it again. At that moment, the door slammed open. The three looked at it and saw how Kenny was holding them at gunpoint with his flamethrowers.

"Hands in the air!" he said calmly. Kaz's hands shot straight into the air, afraid of his brother's doppelganger. Oliver followed his friend's example. The captain couldn't do it, since he was still strapped to the table, but the Incinerator let it slide. He started to smile when he saw the fear in his brother's eyes.

"Okay," the Incinerator, "If you dare move an inch, if you dare speak, if you try anything funny, anything at all… you will burn. Understood?" Kaz and Oliver nodded and the Incinerator's evil smile grew even bigger. With one hand he held the flamethrower and with the other, he took a phone out of his pocket. He pushed a few buttons and then held it at his ear. After a while, he started to speak.

"Hey, Kaz, it's me. Yeah, you were right they're here. Oh no, they're not leaving. I'll make sure of that. Well, assistance is not required, but you and Oliver might want to come over. Okay, see you soon. Bye!" he put the phone back into his pocket and looked at the three he held at gunpoint.

"You have a lot of explaining to do once Cryo and Firefly are here and I'm telling ya, they're not happy."

Kaz gulped. _Yup, we're doomed._


	8. Rescue mission

**Here I am! After that cliffhanger of last time, here's the resolution to that. I won't promise everything will be okay in the end, but let's just say they can leave the room. Not saying whether they're escaping or whether the Incinerator, Firefly or Cryo will escort them out. That's something you have to read for yourselves, but first here are my replies to your reviews:**

 _LabRatsWhore.:_ _Thanks for reviewing! Glad you're able to walk again without using crutches. The Annihilator is a hero in this universe, like, one of the best, as he's one of the worst in the universe Kaz and Oliver are from. Wow, what a headcanon. Not very pleasant to think about that._

 _CaptainMansBabyGirl:_ _All my chapters are this long (can't seem to write shorter ones). Thanks for reviewing!_

 _PurpleNicole531:_ _Thanks for reviewing! Yes, it is really odd that they're the heroes in this universe. I've had some fun writing these characters differently (like a hero/villain) and I will continue to do so until this story ends. Well, it all depends on whether they can get away from the Incinerator or not (although that chance is rather slim). It would be awesome to see them fight! Maybe it'll happen, maybe it won't. You'll have to wait and see._ :)

 _Shadow-wolf78: __In that case, you guessed correctly earlier. Was it that obvious or not? I tried not to make it too obvious. Thanks for reviewing!_

 _Kai:_ _Thanks for reviewing! Don't worry, I am never rushing things. Nothing written in a rush will be published._

 **Enjoy!**

 **-Writer207**

* * *

Five minutes after the Incinerator had called Cryo and Firefly, they finally arrived. In the meantime, neither Kaz nor Oliver had dared to move, talk or do anything in particular. Not when the Incinerator was standing there and clearly enjoying himself. He loved to scare people, and Kaz and Oliver were just terrified.

The Incinerator only looked at the door and back to the two visitors when saw his brother and his brother's friend. Firefly stood next to his brother while Cryo walked to the captain. Kaz and Oliver watched how Cryo readjusted one small tube, connecting the fluid with Captain Atomic once again.

"Kaz and Oliver," Firefly then said, "In Captain Atomic's room. That can't be a coincidence."

"I knew something was going on with you two," Cryo said. "Why don't you tell us why you're here?" Neither Kaz nor Oliver said a word. They both kept their mouths shut, looking at the Incinerator. He was grinning from ear to ear. Fortunately, it didn't take long before the villains knew why their prisoners wouldn't talk.

"Kenny, you're scaring them," Firefly said. The Incinerator nodded.

"Yes, I am," he said with glee. Cryo sighed loudly, but it seemed the Gordon brothers ignored it. Firefly turned his head to his brother.

"We need them to talk," he said. If possible, the Incinerator's grin grew even wider. He lifted the flamethrower into the air.

"Are you suggesting what I think you're suggesting?" he said. This made Kaz think about what the Incinerator had done to Chameleon and shivered at the thought. Was his doppelganger going to allow this to happen?

"Maybe you should wait outside," Firefly said and Kaz sighed in relief. The grin disappeared.

"But I'm not going to—"

"Kenny…" Firefly said in a threatening tone and the two brothers stared at one another. After a while, the Incinerator slouched, brought his flamethrower down and groaned.

"Fine!" he said, "But you tell me when you need to threaten them." And then, the Incinerator left the room. He closed the door behind him. Oliver turned his head to the captain. He had lost the fight – he had gone back to his forced sleep.

"Now he's gone, we can promise you we won't hurt you as long as you talk," Firefly said.

"So, why did you come here?" Cryo added. Kaz and Oliver looked at each other. Kaz nodded at him, a sign that it was safe to talk without being punished.

"I thought you knew that already," Kaz said. Firefly folded his arms.

"We're not psychic," he said, "Now, tell us."

"We just had to know whether you were villains or not," Oliver said. What was the point in denying their activities now they were caught red-handed? Cryo huffed.

"And you go to the captain?" he said, "That's not a wise choice. He –"

"To confirm the news," Firefly interrupted his friend, "yes, we're the bad guys. Is there anything else you want to know?" There was a short silence, in which Kaz and Oliver looked at each other again. They then looked back at their evil counterparts.

"Why are you doing this?" Oliver then asked. He had to know. How could they have fallen so low in this world?

"Because it's fun," Cryo said. Oliver and Kaz's eyes widened in horror. Of all things they could have expected, that was not one of them.

"But…" Kaz began, "But you're doctors! You help save people! How can you stand around and help the villains destroy lives?"

"Again, it's fun," Cryo answered again. "We have to pass our time somehow." Kaz and Oliver had no idea how to react, especially since these villains _were_ them, only with a different allegiance and a bit more experience when it came to controlling powers.

"You guys are mad," Oliver said, a grimace appearing on his face.

"Thank you," Cryo said with an evil smile on his face, sounding rather satisfied.

"No, Oliver's mad," Firefly then told the visitors, "I know what I'm doing most of the time while he doesn't." Cryo turned his head to his friend.

"You're mad, too," he said indignantly. Firefly folded his arms across his chest.

"But not as mad as you." There was a silence that lasted only a couple of seconds before Cryo nodded.

"Yeah, I'm the maddest," he then admitted. They then turned back to their prisoners, who were confused, to say the least. It was always weird to see their counterparts bicker about who was madder as a villain. Unfortunately, they stopped before they were distracted long enough for Kaz and Oliver to escape.

"Why do you need us anyway?" Oliver wondered out loud.

"Need you?" Firefly asked and Oliver nodded.

"You immediately helped us," Oliver said, "Everyone else helped us, too, even if some of them were rather hostile and angry and mean. You tell us you haven't found the transporter, but you haven't looked for it yet. Then there's the pressure to meet Brain Matter. So what is going on?" the villains stared at Oliver for a while.

"Well, aren't you clever?" Cryo said. Since he wasn't going to say anything else, Firefly decided to talk.

"We do need you," he admitted, "We need more power." Kaz gulped. Those words sounded quite threatening when you were the person they were talking to.

"More powers?" Kaz said, "But we have the same powers."

"And you're stronger than us," Oliver added, "How could you possibly need us?"

"True," Firefly said, "Yes, we're stronger and have the same powers, but that's the point. We figured out that, if we extracted your powers and insert them inside our bodies, our own powers would be amplified."

"So, that's it, then?" Kaz said, "You become more powerful and we are left powerless." Firefly and Cryo nodded.

"Yeah," Cryo said, "If you survive the process." Kaz and Oliver's eyes widened. They were too young to die! Kaz and Oliver were just as scared as Firefly was disappointed in Cryo. He would've hit him on the head but didn't do it. Instead, he put a smile on his face and looked at Kaz and Oliver.

"You don't have to worry. Only the versions of us who don't have the powers we require die," he tried to assure them, but that didn't really help them.

"What other versions?" Oliver asked. Firefly huffed.

"Have you ever heard of the multiverse?" he asked their prisoners, "In this big world, multiple – infinite – universes coexist next to one another. Infinite universes mean an infinite amount of Kazes and Olivers to extract powers from."

"And what exactly does Brain Matter have to do with this?" Oliver then asked. Cryo and Firefly looked at one another and Firefly nodded. Cryo turned his head to his doppelganger.

"Look, here's the thing," Cryo said, "We're smart alright, but just not smart enough to build a device to extract powers from our copies. Brain Matter, however, is the smartest man we've ever met. He's more than capable to help us achieve our goals."

Oliver tried to organize all the information they've gathered. Cryo and Firefly are evil. Everyone inside this hospital is evil by default (except for Experion, Captain Atomic and others). Cryo and Firefly steal powers from their doppelgangers, who die if they don't have any powers to extract. And with every time, they grow more powerful.

"Has it worked?" Kaz wondered out loud. Firefly looked at him, seemingly quite offended.

"Excuse me?" he said in a not so friendly tone. Kaz was slightly intimidated, but didn't really show it. He just continued talking.

"Has it ever worked?" he repeated, "From what I've seen, you're not that powerful. That or you just don't like showing off." He figured that the contrast evil/good also was mirrored in the way they behaved. If Kaz suddenly became more powerful, he would certainly show off at least three times before letting it be. Firefly, on the other hand, had barely used his powers until this point.

"You want us to show off?" Firefly asked, "Very well, then. Be warned – you will never be as powerful as we are now." And then, almost simultaneously, they changed. Firefly and Cryo remained standing in place, but they completely changed. It was as if Firefly combusted on the spot and the flames kept on burning him without consuming him. In the meantime, ice crept around Cryo's body until he was covered with a thin layer of ice. Neither seemed to be bothered by the cold or warmth. They literally became ice and fire in less than a second.

"Wow!" Kaz said. He almost could not contain his excitement. Despite them being their enemies and that they wanted to take their powers, it was really awesome to see them change. "Human Torch and Iceman, am I right?" he added.

Oliver looked at Kaz. "Now's not the time!" he exclaimed. Not much later, Cryo and Firefly let the ice and fire disappear. They stood there as if they hadn't been covered with flames and ice at all.

"We've said more than enough," Firefly said, putting up an evil smile. "Time to get you to Brain Matter."

Before they could come too close, Oliver talked. He hoped they'd be distracted long enough for them to… well, he had no idea. As long as they didn't reach Brain Matter, everything would be fine. "Skylar would be proud," he said.

He really shouldn't have. Firefly's eyes widened and he placed a hand on his mouth. Then, he looked at Cryo, terrified of what might happen next. He also took one step away from his evil best friend. Cryo's eyes squinted as he leaned closer to Oliver. All the prisoner could do was lean back and hope Cryo didn't attack him.

" _What_ did you just say?" Cryo said, carefully pronouncing each word. He did not sound calm at all, rather coming across as dangerous. He glared at the scared boy in front of him. Oliver gulped, but continued talking nonetheless. Afterwards, he could never tell why he didn't just stop there.

"Skylar would be very proud of you. You're extracting powers from an alternate version of yourself to gain said powers. Do you really want to be more powerful or do you want to impress her? Either way, she will never come back." He took a deep breath when he was done talking, for he had said this in one go.

Cryo glared at him for one second before he jumped into action. Before Firefly could stop him, he grabbed Oliver by his shirt and held him the air. Cryo didn't stop glaring and Oliver couldn't get himself out of Cryo's grasp. "I'd watch out if were you," he said, "or you'll be the first superhuman who doesn't survive the extraction." He then threw him into the wall. He held back – the wall was still fine, for the exception of a crack. Oliver fell to the ground and didn't immediately get up. Kaz, not thinking about the consequences, ran up to Oliver to help him and see if he was fine. He could be mistaken, but it seemed like Firefly had said "that went well".

Outside, at the door, they heard some noise. They didn't really understand what was going on out there, but they did hear how the Incinerator said "What are you—" before something happened. Then, the door opened and Gamma Girl and Surge entered the room. They could barely see the feet of the Incinerator, as he sat slumped against the wall in the corridor.

"What are you doing here?" Firefly asked.

"We're the back-up," Gamma Girl said.

"You did call for back-up, right?" Surge asked them, but looked at Kaz and Oliver instead of their villainous counterparts. Kaz had helped Oliver stand up and now helped him stand, watching the two heroes. Kaz felt something was wrong. Gamma Girl and Surge… they shouldn't be standing together. They hated each other, right? Ever since an incident between the two, they couldn't stand each other. Maybe things were different, here.

"No, we did not," Firefly said as he and Cryo assumed a fighting stance. Kaz had been right – something was wrong.

"Oh well," Surge shrugged, "Then they must have." He then extended his hand to Gamma Girl, who grabbed. Then, they changed. Gamma Girl and Surge disappeared, turned into a big black storm cloud trapped in this room. Kaz and Oliver moved to a corner, trying to stay as far away from the cloud as possible. Cryo and Firefly watched for a split second before they jumped into action, but by then it was too late. The cloud swarmed around the two villains, so fast that they never stood a chance. Once the cloud stopped circling around them, the villains lay on the ground, unconscious.

The cloud turned back into two people. To be more precise, they turned into two teenage boys dressed in black. They looked at their bodies, to check whether they turned into the right people. They looked alike, just enough to be brothers. "Next time, _you're_ the woman," said the brother who had been pretending to be Gamma Girl.

"Who the heck are you?" Kaz exclaimed after a while, finally finding his voice after witnessing this event. Oliver was thinking the same, but he wouldn't have said it like Kaz.

"We're Roman and Riker," the brother who spoke before said. They guessed it was Riker. Afterward, they knew they had guessed right. They just looked at them, confused, until the other brother spoke.

"We're the sons of Rodisius," Roman said, and only then Kaz and Oliver knew who they were. They had only seen them once or twice in their career, when they were accompanying their father.

"Oh, right. The shape-shifters," Kaz said. Though, he did think about how things were the reverse here and looked at them. "Wait, aren't you supposed to be evil, then?" the brothers shook their heads.

"We were," Roman explained, "But then our father lost his powers. He'd rather die than having his powers removed."

"He's miserable nowadays," Riker added, "He started to wonder why he had chosen to be evil."

"We are doing what he expects us to do," Roman continued, "We are good not only to please our father, but to exact our revenge upon those who made him lose his powers."

"But we will not kill them," Riker clarified, "Taking lives is what villains do. As long as they get what they deserve, it will be fine." Kaz and Oliver nodded. Oliver was doing better with every passing minute.

"So," Kaz said, "You're like anti-heroes."

"Sort of," Roman said.

"What did you do to them?" Oliver asked them, pointing at the unconscious villains on the ground. Both brothers glanced at them before answering.

"We created a vacuum," Riker said, "All air was sucked out of the area. Don't worry, they're alive. I think." He looked at them. Roman immediately knelt down and checked for a pulse with both villains. He stood up again and looked at the two.

"They're alive," Roman said, "Just unconscious." Kaz and Oliver sighed in relief. They never liked dead heroes – or, in this case, dead villains. Especially since those villains were just other versions of them. At least they were still alive.

"Hi!" a voice said. Kaz and Oliver looked around, but they couldn't find anyone. It didn't come from the direction of the door, but rather from the equipment. "Guys, over here!" the voice said again. Roman and Riker were looking at a piece of the equipment with a screen. Kaz and Oliver walked to a different spot, where they'd be able to see the screen. In that screen, they could see the image of Wi-Fi, talking to them.

"Hey there," Wi-Fi said, "I don't want to interrupt or anything, but this place's about to blow in about twenty minutes. Get out of here." He added a smile to the last phrase, but dropped it soon enough.

"What the heck?" Kaz exclaimed, causing Roman and Riker to look at him. Wi-Fi titled his head with a questioning look on his face.

"What he's trying to say is: what's happening?" Oliver explained it to the brothers.

"A bomb's happening," Wi-Fi responded, "We don't want them to keep rebuilding and become stronger again. Makes things harder for us." Kaz looked at him, horrified.

"There's a bomb here?" Wi-Fi titled his head to both sides, deciding whether to say 'yes' or 'no'.

"Yeah," Wi-Fi said, "No need to worry, it's a fake. You see, Machine's crew was there to make people believe there waz going to a bomb placed inside. But whatever they found, it won't work. Within nineteen minutes and a half this place will self-destruct."

"I don't think Mighty Med has a self-destruct protocol," Oliver said. Wi-Fi nodded.

"It does now," he said, spreading his arms and taking a bow, "You're welcome."

"We'll get them out of here," Roman then said, getting back to the point, "You take the captain. He's not strong enough to accompany us." Wi-Fi sighed and materialized right in front of them. He wasn't too happy to leave the internet. He then looked at the captain and started to unplug everything that was plugged into him or in any way connected to him. He wasn't too strong or technical, but it did help to just rip everything out.

"If you don't make it," Wi-Fi told them without looking at them, "stay close to a computer. I might save you."

"Might," Kaz repeated and Wi-Fi nodded.

"I'm not a man of action," the hero said, "I'm just a businessman slash hacker. Though more of a businessman than a hacker. I'm only helping some friends."

"Wait a minute," Oliver suddenly thought of something, "you've been watching us the entire time and you didn't _do_ anything?" Wi-Fi didn't respond until he disconnected Captain Atomic from everything that had been connected to him. He turned around and looked at them.

"I have been doing things," he said, "Do you know how hard it is to install a self-destruct when there's this guy who doesn't like even the slightest change in the programming? I've had to continuously attack the system! I'm still doing it now. It's very tiresome." He focused back on the captain. With one touch, he dematerialized the captain and placed him inside the computer before jumping in himself.

"The Incinerator's waking up!" Riker informed them. Now that he mentioned it, the Incinerator stirred a little and started to groan. Kaz knew that noise – he would soon be awake.

"What are you waiting for?" Wi-Fi asked them, "Unless you want to die, I suggest you run." And they did. While Wi-Fi grabbed the captain's hand and left the screen with him, the brothers and the visitors ran out of the room. The incinerator was now almost awake and definitely aware something was going on in his environment. If possible, they ran as fast they could. They ran straight to the lobby, where they went immediately to the entrance.

It was locked.

Roman tried to break through, and even Oliver punched it, but there was no slightest sign that people tried to break it down and leave – or rather, escape. They tried a few more times, but the door wouldn't budge.

"You can't get through." They all turned around. The Incinerator was standing there, aiming his flamethrower in their general direction. "The hospital goes on lockdown at night, to prevent situations like these. You have just made the biggest mistake of your lives." The Incinerator then smiled in an evil way at them. "So, which one of you wants to die first?"


	9. Self-destruct

**Hey guys! I'm back with a new chapter, about two weeks after that cliffhanger. That's not too long, is it? Anyway, now that bad cliffhanger can finally be resolved. What's gonna happen now? I know you'll love it! But first, here are my responsest to your reviews:**

 _LabRatsWhore:_ _Thanks for reviewing! Yes, they can be quite dangerous in some cases._

 _Shadow-wolf78:_ _Oh, right. It's like rule number one in fiction: when they go to a parallel world, every good person becomes bad and vice versa (or, at least, almost all of them). That is a good example of the multiverse. Thanks for reviewing!_

 _PurpleNicole531:_ _Thanks for reviewing! Well, there's always one small chance of escaping (although in this case it's very small). And there'll be more of Kenny soon, when this story is finished. If you're already having trouble with Roman and Riker being good guys, just wait for the next chapter. We've just passed the midpoint of the story, so I guess it's time for some action and tension._

 **Enjoy!**

 **-Writer207**

* * *

Kaz and Oliver put their hands in the air, while the brothers didn't move at all. The Incinerator was still pointing his flamethrowers in their direction, glancing at every single one of them, waiting for them to decide who would be first.

"What are you…" Oliver began, but he never got a chance to finish. The Incinerator smiled at him before interrupting him.

"And we have a volunteer," he said, pointing the weapon at Oliver. Before he could fire, Kaz acted quickly and jumped in front of Oliver, shouting "No, don't!" The Incinerator still aimed for Oliver, but didn't pull the trigger. He glared at Kaz.

"You can't do it," Kaz said, half-excited, "You can't kill me."

"True," the Incinerator said, and he lowered the flamethrower. Kaz showed a small smile.

"Yes," he said, "I knew you still cared about me." He had thought that he wouldn't kill Kaz, since they were related. He was glad to know this twisted version of Kenny still cared about family.

"This isn't a question of caring," the Incinerator said, "this is a question of not wasting fuel."

Kaz frowned. "Huh?"

The Incinerator groaned loudly, rolling his eyes. "Geez, do I have to explain everything?" he said, "You're pyrokinetic. You're immune to fire, what use is there in trying to kill you with it? No, I'm just going to have to be more creative." Kaz's fear grew while the Incinerator spoke. He had never really thought of the possibility of complete immunity to fire and heat. He looked at Oliver, who looked just as afraid. Kaz knew Oliver didn't know how far the Incinerator would go, how far that villain could go. He'd tortured an old friend with fire. He was more than capable of finding something to kill Kaz with.

"Oh," was all Kaz could say about it. The Incinerator nodded.

"Yes, oh," he said, "Don't worry. You'll live the longest. Fortunately, you can watch me take their lives first." Kaz looked at him rather disappointed, shaking his head in disapproval.

"Fortunately?" he said, "You know, the Kenny I know…"

"…isn't here right now," The Incinerator said, "We're nothing alike. I don't just like to scare people, I like to make them feel miserable. Your brother isn't like that, right?" Kaz didn't really respond to that. He didn't have to.

"Is this about Bianca?" Riker then asked him. It appeared he had said the magic word, because – without further consideration – the Incinerator aimed the weapon at the boy, who then raised his hands to. Kaz barely had time to jump in front of him to prevent the Incinerator from firing. He could feel goosebumps coming up when he saw the Incinerator. So much rage, so much of a savage look on his face. Fire seemed to burn in his eyes and the flamethrower slightly trembled in his hand.

"Don't say her name!" he shouted, yelled as loud as he possibly could, with all the rage inside audible in his voice, "Don't _ever_ say her name again!" He panted, shaking his head, never taking his eyes off of the brothers. "I changed my mind," he then said, a bit calmer than before, "The brothers die first." Roman thought the best move would be to raise his hands, too, even if he knew they were innocent.

"We didn't have…" he began, but was interrupted. The flamethrower pointed at him now, and Kaz moved along with the flamethrower.

"Shut up, Riker," the Incinerator said, looking directly at him. "You're a traitor, and traitors don't get to talk."

"You're the traitor here," Riker said. The Incinerator nodded.

"True," he said, "I am the traitor, but so are you. Evil, then good? How hard was it to change beliefs?" Roman and Riker stayed silent. They didn't want to anger him more. People became rather unpredictable when they got angry, and so did the Incinerator. Eventually, the villain shrugged. "Okay, if you don't want to talk, I can just skip to the killing part."

"Wait!" Oliver yelled before the Incinerator was done talking. Out of irritation, he pointed it at Oliver. Kaz moved so he stood in front of Oliver.

"What now, Cryo?" he yelled.

"It's Oliver."

"Do I look like I care?" the Incinerator said, getting irritated with every passing second, "You're doppelgangers, at one point you'll start calling yourself Cryo, too." Oliver gulped before he finally spoke.

"How did it happen again?" His voice trembled slightly. "What did they do to her?" The Incinerator's harsh façade dropped slightly. He still looked angry, but his eyes seemed sad rather than angry. He lowered the weapon again, yet didn't take his eyes off of the boy with ice powers.

"Flamebird happened," he said, "There was nothing left. Only her burned corpse. If Firefly hadn't told me it was her, I would've never known what happened. I would've never guessed…" He trailed off, finally looking away from Oliver. Oliver took his time to think about the event while the others didn't say a word, giving the Incinerator a moment to mourn her.

"She tried to protect her," Roman said. The Incinerator was dragged out of his thoughts, now pointing the flamethrower at the oldest brother.

"Lies," he said, and wanted to fire. Fortunately for Roman, Oliver talked again.

"But it couldn't have been her," he said. The Incinerator turned back to him.

"What are you even talking about?" he said, "You've been here for less than a day!" Oliver raised his hands again, looking from the Incinerator's face to the weapon and back to his face.

"I can try to explain," he said, his voice a little higher than it's supposed to be. The Incinerator nodded at him, as if to give him permission to explain. And that's what Oliver did. "You know Flamebird, right? You know how her power works. She breathes fire. Every time she breathes out, she decides whether flames come out or not. But she always has to inhale, breaking the stream. And it can never be hot enough to achieve burning someone. It has to be a constant stream of fire at an extremely high temperature."

"Funny," the Incinerator said, "the ice boy knows how pyrokinetics work." Oliver nodded before he continued talking.

"Flamebird can't achieve it," he said, "She has to breathe and her flames can never be that strong. Someone else must have done it, you know it. There aren't a lot of pyrokinetic villains or heroes left who could have done it. I do know Firefly is strong enough to do it." The Incinerator shook his head, pointing the flamethrowers at Oliver.

"He would never."

"Really?" Kaz then said, "He seems cruel to me. And he definitely looks like the kind of guy who'd kill to get people on their side." The Incinerator continued to shake his head.

"He couldn't have," he said. The flamethrower started to shake, almost invisible for the naked eye. But Oliver and Kaz noticed.

"Where was he when it happened?" Kaz asked him, "What did he tell you."

"He told me…" The incinerator began, but cut himself off. He took a deep breath before looking directly at Kaz and talking without hesitation. "He told me it was Flamebird. He told me he had found her, killing. He told me he tried to save her, but Flamebird got away." The visitors nodded, yet thought of it as a little too convenient in this particular case.

"Has Flamebird killed before?" Oliver then asked Roman and Riker. They shook their heads.

"She hasn't," the Incinerator said, "but I guess she wanted to make an exception." Roman's facial expression hardened.

"You know very well that she's a pacifist," he said, "she doesn't hurt anyone unless she has no choice. But if there's anything she'd never do, no matter the circumstances, is taking someone life."

"Firefly lied," Riker helped his brother, though with a calmer tone in his voice. "It was him who did it." The Incinerator moved his weapon from aiming at Oliver to aiming at the shapeshifting brothers.

"Do not confuse me," he said.

"We're just telling you the truth," Riker said. The Incinerator opened his mouth to say something in return, but he never got the chance to say what he had wanted to tell the brothers.

"Guys? You gotta get out of here, remember?" That was the person who'd interrupted the villain, yet it hadn't been the visitors nor the brothers. Only when the brothers looked at a small screen nearby, he could see who had interrupted him. It was the cyber-hero, Wi-Fi, talking to his allies and then turned his head to the Incinerator.

"Oh, is this a bad time?" Wi-Fi continued. They all just stared at him, wondering what his next move may be. Whenever he'd glance at the villain, he seemed to be afraid. Good. "Yeah, I'm just gonna try to get you out of here from in here," he eventually said, and the Incinerator grinned.

"From in there?" Oliver asked out loud, and Wi-Fi nodded.

"I'd rather not be in the same room with the Incinerator." He looked at the villain when he said the name. The Incinerator nodded approvingly.

"That guy has his priorities sorted out," he said. The hero disappeared from the screen, jumping deeper into the information stream and different digital platforms. The four boys continued somewhat where they left off.

"Kenny…" Kaz began, but the Incinerator wouldn't let him finish.

"That's Incinerator for you," he said calmly. Kaz nodded, to say he wouldn't make that mistake again.

"You know it's true," Kaz said, despite not knowing what had actually happened. He was just trying to figure out what was happening himself. "You know Flamebird would never hurt or kill her. At least, not in this world. Either way, try to think. Imagine Flamebird and Firefly threatening to burn her. Then tell us which one will actually do it." The Incinerator looked at them for a while, debating whether to think about it or to be done with it and kill them.

"You talk too much," he told the group in general.

"But you're considering it," Kaz tried, hoping he would. Fortunately, the Incinerator nodded, still pointing the flamethrowers in their direction.

"Don't go anywhere while I think." As expected, nobody moved an inch while the Incinerator took his time to consider all the options and, for once, think rationally about that night and what could and couldn't have happened. Every passing second seemed too long for the brothers and visitors, since they knew the hospital would explode sooner or later, and it may already be sooner than expected. While the Incinerator was thinking, Cryo and Firefly had recovered from Roman and Riker's attack. They ran into the lobby, and evil and definitely angry look on their face.

"You've got them," Firefly said, "Good job." The Incinerator didn't move for a while. When he did, he surprised (and confused) everyone in the room. He turned around, now aiming for Cryo. The villain put his hands in the air when the flamethrower was literally pushed against his stomach.

"Wow," Cryo said, "what are you—"

"Shut up, I'm talking," the Incinerator said. Cryo shut up, saying nothing anymore. The Incinerator turned his head to Firefly, who already had one hand engulfed in flames, just in case he had to attack his older brother. The Incinerator continued talking, "Did you, or did you not kill my wife?"

"You know the answer," Firefly said, not in any way afraid. The Incinerator's grip on his weapon tightened.

"Say it, or I'll fire," he said. Firefly huffed.

"Have you forgotten? I'm immune," he said. The Incinerator shook his head.

"Wrong answer," he said. And he fired. Not at Firefly, since that would do nothing at all. But he quickly changed targets again and now, Cryo was lying on the ground, screaming in pain.

Firefly tried to come closer, which the Incinerator had anticipated. "One more step and I'll fire again." Firefly pulled his leg back where it once stood and the Incinerator nodded. "Good boy," he said, "Now, I'd like to hear the truth. Don't even think about lying, cause I'll know when you do it. If you do it, I can't guarantee Cryo will live. Now, did you or did you not kill my wife!?" Silence fell again, as the boys waited for the villains to resolve the problem and reveal what had truly happened.

"Yes," Firefly said after a while. He showed no remorse, no sadness. He stood there, staring at his now emotional brother with a blank face. The flamethrower was now visibly trembling in his hand and he was breathing loudly.

"Why?" he asked. He almost shouted the words with his trembling voice. "What was there to gain?"

"Your unwavering loyalty to our side if you believed your teammates did it," Firefly explained, as if he was telling little kids that two and two made four. "And it worked. Your instability has always been your greatest weakness."

The Incinerator did not like that explanation and the way it was said. He glared at his younger brother and knew that bond could never be repaired again.

"Oh yeah?" he said, ready to do what he could do best. "Well, yours is that you think you can manipulate everything and can get away with it. But not today!" What happened next, happened really fast. Without any warning, he sent more flames in Cryo direction. This time, he didn't stop. Cryo was lying on the ground, writhing in agony with loud screams. Then, Firefly hit the Incinerator with his own flames. The impact apparently was big enough to throw him a few feet away from his original position. He hit the ground and didn't immediately open his eyes. There were burn marks all over his body, which could very well be all third degree burns. Then again, that's what he had done to Cryo. An eye for an eye.

Oliver had thought to help, to hit either one of them. They may be bad guys, but nobody deserved to suffer like that. Oliver walked closer, aiming with his hand at Firefly. Whatever he was expecting to come out of it, never truly came. He expected a burst of water. Instead, it was just a small stream hitting Firefly's hand.

Firefly slowly turned his head in their direction. The look on his face was inhuman, like an animal looking at his prey right before killing it. He was furious. And a furious Firefly is what everyone on the planet was actively trying to avoid.

"You shouldn't have done that," he said, using all the patience he had left to say those words before becoming anger itself. He let flames envelop his arms, but not further than his shoulders. He pushed them forward, as if pushing something in their direction, and two big streams of fire went in their direction. They could barely avoid getting hit by either stream. Oliver and Kaz jumped to the left, Roman and Riker to the right.

Yet, Roman and Riker never landed. The brothers had grabbed each other's hands and had become the black cloud from earlier. They performed the exact same trick as before and created a vacuum around Firefly. This time, the villain tried to harm them and almost succeeded, if he'd only not given up. Only when they heard the thud of him falling on the ground, Roman and Riker shifted back into their normal forms.

In the meantime, Kaz had gotten closer to the Incinerator, stepped by step, very carefully. Eventually, he managed to kneel down next to him and see if he still had a pulse. As soon as Roman and Riker turned back to normal, Kaz looked up. "He's alive, but barely," he said, "Oliver, can you provide some cold?" Oliver shrugged.

"I can try," he said. He too sat down on his knees next to the Incinerator and placed his hands above the body. He emitted a bit of cold, but not enough. Also, his hands were leaking small bits of water, which he didn't try to stop – the water could cool down the body, too, and might help against the burns.

"I'm back!" Wi-Fi announced, appearing on the same screen as before. He quickly looked around the room. "Wow, I missed a lot," he said when he noticed all villains were laying on the ground, of which two had severe burn wounds.

"Can you get us out?" Roman asked him. Wi-Fi nodded.

"Yes," he said, "but I can't open the door without stopping the countdown. You'll have to go through here. It is the fastest way of transport."

"Is that even possible?" Riker asked him. He was only wondering about Wi-Fi bringing passengers with him. Traveling through computers wasn't weird for them anymore.

"Says the guy who can literally become anything," Wi-Fi said to him, then addressed the entire group, "C'mon then, time is ticking. Who goes first?"

"The visitors," Roman said. They were the brother's responsibility. They should be safe first, and then they could get out of there, too. Unfortunately, someone didn't agree with it.

"No!" Kaz said, "Kenny goes first." They all looked at him as if he'd just gone mad.

"Kaz…" Oliver began, but Kaz cut him off.

"I'm not going anywhere as long as he's still laying there." He folded his arms and looked at the brothers with a serious look on his face. They refused to say anything, since they preferred to leave him behind. Eventually, Wi-Fi made the decision.

"Fine," he groaned, "I'll take him with him." He jumped out of the screen and walked to the Incinerator. He reached out for him and hesitated when he was mere inches away. After a few seconds, he pressed his hand against the Incinerator's chest and dematerialized him, placing him inside the screen. No millisecond after he'd done it, Wi-Fi did the same to himself. He then lead the Incinerator away from the hospital, to wherever they were supposed to go.

Roman turned to Kaz, shaking his head. "Why?" he asked, "He's a villain."

"He turned against Cryo and Firefly," Kaz explained, "Maybe he wanted to be a hero again."

"He deliberately hurt someone, so he could hurt someone else out of revenge. That doesn't sound like a hero to me." Kaz could already say that he did not like Roman and Riker. Sure, they were saving their lives, but they really weren't what he had in mind when he thought of Rodisius' sons.

"He has it in him," Kaz said, remembering how his own Kenny had turned good, "You turned your back to evil, too, right? Why can't he?" Roman and Riker refused to answer him. Silence fell again, and everyone started to wonder how much time they still had before the hospital would be blown to bits for the second time.

Wi-Fi then came back. "Sorry it took me so long," he said, "they wanted to know why I brought the Incinerator. Now, let's do this." He first took Kaz, then Oliver and Roman with him. When he came back to get Riker back, he noticed the boy stared at the three villains on the ground. Firefly stirred again, though not much.

"Riker?" Wi-Fi asked him, "Do you want to stay or go home?"

Riker didn't answer. Instead, he asked the cyberhero a question. "Do you think they'll survive the explosion?"

"In this state?" Wi-Fi said, "Improbable. They still have some minutes, but they won't get out. Unless there's a secret escape pod or something. Either way, we should be going." Riker nodded in agreement and let himself be taken home by Wi-Fi.

He had not noticed that Firefly now woke up faster than before. It still took him a while until he was awake again, but the process was a bit faster than before. It had happened to him in the hospital room, so he knew what to do to get back on his feet again.

Wi-Fi knew too much, Firefly thought. There was a secret escape route, specifically built for situations like this. He considered paying Wi-Fi more than the heroes the next time. After all, he was just a businessman who stuck with the good guys because they paid him well. He wondered what it would be like to have him on their side.

With all the effort he still had, he stood up. He grabbed Cryo by his shirt – why don't I have super strength? – and dragged him away from the lobby, into the secret route placed behind the wall of pictures. There was no time to warn the others in the hospital. Oh well, they would've died one way or another anyway, whether it was soon or much later. He went as fast as he could, while dragging Cryo behind him.

The explosion was audible and visible to all and lethal to those who were inside. But Firefly and Cryo were far enough not to be affected by the blast. As soon as the self-destruct reached zero, Firefly called some allies to take him in. Before he passed out from exhaustion – after all, his will to survive was the only thing that had kept him going – he could only think of getting his revenge.


	10. League of Heroes

**Hello again. Happy Halloween! What better time is there to update a story then on Halloween? Okay, there won't be anything/much Halloween related, but at least you'll get to know what exactly happened to Kaz, Oliver, Roman and Riker. Who knows, something might surprise/scare you after all. But first, I'm going to reply to your reviews:**

 _Shadow-wolf78:_ _Thanks for reviewing!_ _It indeed is, though someone really should tell Barry to stop messing with the timeline._

 _LabRatsWhore:_ _Sounds great. I assume it's getting better quickly. I'm glad you liked the chapter. Me too, but they built one in after the destruction last time. Thanks for reviewing!_

 _CaptainMansBabyGirl:_ _Thanks for reviewing! Here's the next chapter._

 _PurpleNicole531:_ _Well, I guess Firefly is more impulsively using his powers while Cryo is more reserved and only uses his ice powers at certain occasions. Either way, Firefly's eviler but Cryo's crazier. If Kaz hadn't been there, the Incinerator would've died in the explosion. And you're completely right. Yeah, where's the fun in getting rid of our main villains before the big battle has taken place. And yes - they built one, just in case. And they're alive. Thanks for reviewing_

 **Enjoy!**

 **-Writer207**

* * *

Kaz landed in complete darkness. The only thing he could see was the screen he'd just come out of and a red glowing dot at the other side of the room. He hit the ground hard instead of landing on his feet, like he'd hoped. The same happened to Oliver. Kaz was already glad Oliver landed next to him instead of on top of him. Kaz helped him stand on his feet, and they looked around. They felt like they were watched, but couldn't see anything.

Then, Roman appeared, too, landing on his feet. He immediately spoke up. "I'm back. We've rescued the visitors." As soon as he spoke these words, the lights in the room turned on. It was a rather small room, with just enough room for twenty people to stand in. There was a door on the other side of the room, their only way out. Kaz and Oliver jumped up in fear and backed away as far as possible when they noticed Megahertz was looking at them, arms folded. After a few seconds, he looked quizzically at the screen, as did Roman. Where were Wi-Fi and Riker? What was keeping them at the hospital?

Eventually, they did appear as well. The number of people in the room became six. Wi-Fi put up his hand, as to 'wave' Megahertz hello. "We did it," he said "It's almost time."

"How long until the explosion?" Megahertz asked him. He focused only on him while they continued their conversation. Wi-Fi shrugged.

"Just a couple of minutes and no way out for those inside."

"How many casualties?"

"A lot," Wi-Fi said, "Some prominent and powerful villains who've started living there will die – though I'm certain Tecton will reappear after a while. Who else?" Wi-Fi paused to think. "Either way, Experion is beyond saving. Such a shame. Oh, and Cryo and Firefly were unconscious when we left. There's a 99% chance they won't make it out alive." Megahertz nodded in agreement as he listened to the cyberhero.

"Good work." Then, he turned his head to the visitors and smiled at them. "Welcome to the League of Heroes. I hope they didn't hurt you too much." He couldn't help but notice the two doppelgangers were terrified of him.

"What?" he then said, "Was it something I said?"

"Nothing, it's just… You're a villain where we come from," Oliver said. Megahertz nodded.

"Yeah, that was a possibility. Either way, you're safe here. You're keeping your powers and I promise you that we will bring you home as soon as possible." They wanted to thank him, but couldn't. Megahertz was being _nice_. Megahertz was _a good guy_ in this world. It wasn't surprising, knowing how this world worked, but it still was weird to watch.

Then, Kaz yawned.

"Oh, right," Megahertz then said, "It's almost midnight. You four must be exhausted. I suggest you rest and we can continue this conversation in the morning."

"Good idea," Wi-Fi said before Kaz could object, "We can all use a nap."

"Then that's settled," the cyborg said, "I'll bring you to your room. Carver, do you mind temporarily sharing your room?" He looked at the shapeshifting brothers, who shook their heads.

"No, not at all," Roman said.

"I come with you," Megahertz said. "I have to go in that direction anyway." He walked to the door and it automatically opened. The walk to the sleeping room took about a minute, passing hallways and training rooms. The villains were not the only ones who shared one common living area.

The room was standard. There were four beds, the two on the right belonging to Roman and Riker. There were some buttons against the wall, of which they had no idea what they did. There was also another door in the room, leading to who-knows-where. Wi-Fi had followed them, using one of his shortcuts. He was already waiting near the door.

"You'll be staying here for the time being," Megahertz said. Oliver and Kaz quickly picked the beds and sat on top of them. Just when Megahertz was about to leave, he heard the doppelgangers speak.

"I don't think I'll be able to sleep," Oliver said. That day had been one rollercoaster. It started in their own world, discovering a new one, then seeing all the doppelgangers and discovering they all have a different allegiance. And now, those evil versions of themselves would definitely die. So much had happened, he doubted he'd be able to sleep at all that night.

"Me neither," Kaz said. His thoughts were mostly with Kenny. He had not looked very good when Wi-Fi brought him away and Kaz feared he wouldn't make it.

"We can help you with that." Kaz and Oliver turned their heads to Megahertz, who'd spoken. "Wi-Fi, call Sandwoman to this room." Wi-Fi saluted him and walked out of the room, to the nearest screen to quickly go to her and tell her the news.

Oliver frowned. "Sandwoman?" That was not a name he was familiar with. And neither was Kaz.

"She'll help you fall asleep," Tecton's enemy said, "Good night." Roman and Riker nodded at him. Riker lay down in his bed after having untied his shoelaces and taken off his clothes.

"Where are you going?" Kaz wondered when Megahertz turned around to leave the room. He turned back to the four teenagers.

"Unlike you, I can't go to sleep. Batteries," he said, pointing at his body. "I'm going to do my job: making sure everyone makes it until the next day. Goodnight." Then, he left the room. It wasn't met with more protests, since the two visitors had no idea what to make of him and this 'Sandwoman'.

"Do you know her?" Kaz asked the brothers.

"She doesn't hurt people, if that's what you mean," Riker said. "She's really nice, always ready to help. She's mostly in the infirmary, helping patients." That was all the information they got. Kaz and Oliver untied their shoes too and put their coats next to the bed. They didn't have anything from home, so they had to sleep in what they were wearing now. Roman and Riker did change into their usual sleepwear.

Within five minutes, a woman walked into the room. She had a dark skin and her raven-black hair was tied in a knot. Her uniform was a black sleeveless jumpsuit, including flat shoes and long gloves in the same color. She smiled at the shapeshifting brothers.

"Hello," she said, "I heard you're having trou–" she stopped talking when her eyes fell on Kaz and Oliver. Her smile disappeared as soon as she saw them.

"Don't worry, Raneya," Roman said, "They're doppelgangers. They're not Cryo and Firefly." She sighed in relief and the smile reappeared on her face.

"Who wants to go first?" she asked the group of four. Kaz was very eager to shout out 'not me!' while one of the three others would definitely go first. When nobody answered the question, she turned to Roman. "Do you two need some help?" Riker shook his head.

"We're good," he said.

head and looked at the two visitors. One of them was calm and waited for her to speak while the other was agitated, breathing quickly and almost afraid of her.

"Which one of you will go first?" Oliver turned his head to Kaz, speaking out his name. Feeling betrayed, Kaz then exclaimed Oliver's name is disappointment.

"You do look like you'll need it the most," the Sandwoman said.

"No, I don't!" Kaz immediately protested, then pointed at Oliver. "He does! I don't need your help." Oliver sighed. He stepped away from his bed to put a hand on Kaz's shoulder. Kaz was sitting down, and turned his head to Oliver.

"Calm down," Oliver said.

Kaz now turned his whole body to face Oliver, now sitting on his bed. "I can't—"

"We can check up on him when we wake up." The Incinerator needed the rest he could get. For all they knew, the people helping these heroes were doing all they could do to save him. Not only the Incinerator needed to rest, but the visitors too. Kaz had another idea, though.

"But I—" He could never finish his sentence. Raneya took her chance and placed her hands on Kaz's temple. Before he could take them off of his head, her powers already had an effect on him. When he felt the contact, he lifted his arms in panic, but stopped mid-air. He slowly lowered them again and yawned. A dazed look appeared in his eyes as his body relaxed. Sandwoman pulled her hands back, but Kaz remained in his seat. "I don't…" he tried to say, but could barely get out of his words. He yawned and preferred to lay on his side. He tried to continue to speak. "…don' wanna…" But it was already too late. He rolled from his side on his back and closed his eyes. He was fast asleep.

Oliver nodded at Raneya. "Thanks."

"No problem," she said. Oliver then sat down under the sheetsand sat down.

"How long will we sleep?" Oliver asked.

"You'll wake up after ten hours," she said. Oliver nodded. They'd wake up around ten o'clock in the morning. That's enough.

"Okay," he said, "I'm ready." Raneya placed her hands on his temple. Waves of sleepiness hit him. All his previous thought were replaced by thoughts about falling asleep. He yawned when Raneya pulled her hands away. His vision became a bit blurry. He just had enough strength to lay down and pull those sheets over him. Then, he could no longer stay awake. He closed his eyes and fell asleep.

* * *

Kaz just had the weirdest dream. He dreamt that he and Oliver went to an alternate universe where every good person was evil and vice versa. Tecton was there, and Kenny, and Megahertz and Wi-Fi and two shape-shifters he didn't know. He did wonder why his bed felt different than usual. Only when he opened his eyes, he noticed it wasn't a dream and that he was still in the other world.

Within a second, he didn't feel so sleepy anymore. He shot straight up, looking around in the room. Roman and Riker were already up – they weren't in the room anymore – and Oliver was laying in the bed next to him. He was still fast asleep.

He immediately got out of the bed – he had just been laying on it, not even under the sheets. He looked at Oliver and wondered if he should wake him up or not. Eventually, he made his decision. He took the sheets and pulled it off of his friend. Oliver rolled to his side and groaned, opening his eyes. He shot a rather annoyed look at Kaz.

"Why?" he asked.

"Did you distract me so she could do that?" Kaz asked him, folding his arms. Oliver shook his head.

"No, I didn't," he said, sitting straight up. He immediately put on his shoes, tied his laces and continued to talk. "She's good. I haven't slept that well in weeks."

"She could've warned me," Kaz said. Not only did she make him fall asleep, she also (kind of) snuck up on him to do it. That was something he could not appreciate.

Someone knocked on the door and then opened it. Kaz and Oliver turned their heads to the door and saw how Wi-Fi walked in.

"Oh, good, you're awake!" he said, "For a minute, I thought I'd have to wake you up. Anyway, time to go to back to the boss."

"Megahertz?" Kaz wondered. However hard he tried, he could not imagine Megahertz to be the boss of this world's League of Heroes. There have been several attempts of villain organizations in their own world, some of which were led by Megahertz, but he never had the right temper to lead. Wi-Fi nodded.

"Yeah, Megahertz. Don't be so surprised. It was him or Clyde and in his state, I'd pick Megahertz every time. Now, let's go." Kaz and Oliver looked at each other, wondering why Clyde wouldn't be qualified to lead the League of Heroes. They just shrugged it off, got up and walked behind him, to Megahertz.

The first thing they felt when they walked out of the door was how cold it was. For this time of year, inside the building, it felt colder than usual. Oliver didn't mind it too much, but Kaz did. "Is it always this cold here?" he wondered out loud.

"No, not at all," Wi-Fi explained. "This place should be warm enough to feel like summer. I'd be worried if it wasn't city-wide."

"So it's cold all around Philadelphia?" Oliver asked and Wi-Fi nodded.

"Yeah. Either the weather's going crazy or this is Absolute Zero announcing he's come back from retirement. I wouldn't worry about it." They continued their walk through the halls of what looked like Megahertz's evil lair turned into the place where most or at least some heroes lived. On their way to Megahertz, they passed many people they were afraid of. It was hard to put that fear aside, especially when they noticed the heroes wore the same clothes as their villain counterparts. Soul Slayer materialized out of nothing next to Black Falcon and discussed economics. In another hallway, Clyde was sitting against the wall, slumping. He looked rather unkempt, as if he hadn't changed his clothes or washed himself in days. He had a beer bottle in his hand. When Slaughter Mastr passed him – he had to go in the opposite direction of the visitors – he snatched the bottle right out of Clyde's hands, shaking his head. All Clyde did was hold his arm in the position and demand Slaughter Master to give it back. He did not return the beverage.

Those were some examples of the heroes they met in the hallways. However, there was one encounter they would not easily forget.

"Wi-Fi!" a voice that made the two visitors jump high yelled. Wi-Fi merely turned his head to the door they just passed. "I know you're there!"

"Excuse me," Wi-Fi told the boys, then walked back to the door. "What is it, Neil? Still having problems with that gun?" That's the reason why they jumped up – it was the Annihilator calling out for the cyberhero. In curiosity, they also walked closed.

"You said you'd fix it," they heard Neil say.

"No, I said I'd get you _someone_ to fix it. I'm more of a computer guy than anything else," Wi-Fi said. Then, Oliver and Kaz looked around the corner. That may not have been a good thing to do. The Annihilator immediately jumped out of his chair. If Wi-Fi hadn't stood between him and the boys, something bad may have happened.

"Whoa," Wi-Fi exclaimed, "Calm down! They're doppelgangers, they haven't done anything!" The Annihilator glared at them – they couldn't see it through the helmet, but they could feel it. The Annihilator backed away and sat down in the chair. Wi-Fi breathed out in relief.

"You okay?"

"Get them out of my sight. And get me someone to fix my gun." He slammed his hand on the table. Wi-Fi nodded.

"Sure thing," he said, then turned around and walked back through the door, back on the original course with Oliver and Kaz. He sighed out loud. "That was close."

"Is he always that violent?" Kaz wanted to know.

"No, not always," Wi-Fi said, "He just lost that arm to Cryo. Froze it to the bone then broke it off. He hates your guts – well, Cryo and Firefly's guts, but you're practically the same." Oliver and Kaz looked at one another. They both had not noticed the Annihilator had lost an arm, though both had noticed something was wrong. They silently decided not to ask anything about that.

From that point on, it didn't take too long to reach Megahertz's "office". It was just the main room of the building, one Oliver recognized as where he once was held captive by the cyborg. It even looked exactly the same. They walked through the opened door and Megahertz walked closer to them.

"Good morning," he said. "I hope you had a good night."

"Depends," Kaz said, folding his arms. He was still a bit mad about what Raneya had done.

"You didn't have it too cold?" Megahertz then asked them. Before either could answer, a phone rang. Wi-Fi nodded.

"That's me," he said apologetically, taking the call. "Hello? Yes, that's me. Oh, okay…" He took the phone away from his phone, covered it with his hands and turned to the three. "It's a client. I have to take this." He then put the phone back at his ear and walked into the corridor, as not to interrupt the conversation they were having.

"No, not at all," Oliver said. Kaz nodded in agreement.

"Good," Megahertz nodded. "Anyway, last night, I've searched all over this facility, looking for a way to bring you home and I found something."

"Really?" Kaz said. he did not want to stay here any longer. Oliver's widened.

"Yes," Megahertz said, "It's a wormhole generator. Recently patched up. I assume you know how to handle it?" The boys nodded. "That's settled then. You'll be back home in no time… if I remember where I put it." The cyborg scratched his head and started opening drawers and looking through the stuff he's been keeping in this room.

"So," Oliver began, a bit shy and scared, "according to Wi-Fi you're the boss."

 _"What?"_ Oliver, Kaz and Megahertz turned their heads to the door. Wi-Fi had yelled that one word, probably a reaction to whatever the person who was calling him had said. Megahertz and the boys paid little attention to it.

"Correct," Megahertz said, "though not by choice. But if they decide I should lead instead of Clyde, then I will do so." Kaz and Oliver looked at each other – this is the second time someone mentioned Clyde. "I thought it was right here…" Megahertz muttered under his breath, wondering where he'd left the wormhole generator.

"Wi-Fi also mentioned Clyde," Kaz said, "What happened to him?"

"Caduceo," Megahertz said, "He not only split their amulet in two, but he also kidnapped Wallace. Clyde doesn't want to say it, but it's very clear his other half has been murdered. Since people don't want a drunk as their leader, they voted me to be the leader."

Wi-Fi slowly walked back into the room, a shocked expression on his face and his phone still in his hand. Megahertz frowned. "Is everything okay?"

"Someone offered me a million dollars for a very simple task," Wi-Fi said, as if he still couldn't believe someone made such an offer.

"Great," Megahertz said. "So, what did you say?"

"I said I'd do it," Wi-Fi said slowly, not as much in shock, but still sounding a bit sorry.

"Congratulations," Megahertz said. Wi-Fi only nodded once and put his phone back in his pocket. "Are you sure you're fine?"

"Yeah, I am," Wi-Fi said, rather quickly. "I just…" He sighed. "I think I'd better prepare for the job."

Megahertz wanted to wish him good luck, but before he could do that, Wi-Fi had already jumped back into the nearest computer and was gone. Megahertz shrugged it off and then remembered where he had put the wormhole generator.

"Ah, here it is," Megahertz said as he picked the wormhole generator out of a box labeled 'return to owners'. He handed the tool to Kaz.

"Finally!" he exclaimed," Let's go home." He was about to press the button when Oliver took a few steps to the right, away from Kaz and out of range of the wormhole generator. "Oliver?" Kaz said quizzically.

"We can't leave," Oliver said. He thought of Clyde, who was already drinking this early in the day. He thought of Wi-Fi, who somehow wasn't happy to learn he'd get so much money for a simple task. He thought about Captain Atomic and Experion, and others who may have been forced back to the dark side. He thought about the Incinerator. He thought about Roman and Riker. He thought about the heroes, and how it looked like they didn't stand a chance against the villains. Now, with the hospital blown up, they had a bigger chance of winning. He wasn't around once when a lot of heroes were wiped out, including the Diaz family. He wouldn't let that happen again.

Kaz sighed. "Of course we can," he said, walking close to his best friend, "I press this button and we're back home."

"Kaz," Oliver said, "we have to help them."

Kaz groaned and rolled his eyes. "Oliver, have you _seen_ how the Annihilator reacted? I don't know about you, but I don't want them to attack us while we're trying to help."

"Neither do I," Oliver said, "But we've got to help them. There are still villains out there—"

"And they will be defeated by these heroes here," Kaz said, longing to go without having to leave his best friend behind. "Let's go home!"

Before Oliver could say anything else, someone else came into the room. She started talking in the corridor, near the entrance, and was loud enough to be understood in Megahertz's room.

"Megahertz, there's something you—" She stopped talking when she was about one yard into the room. Oliver and Kaz had turned their heads to the woman who just walked into the room.

Oliver's eyes widened when he saw her. The woman was holding papers in her hands, but she dropped them as soon as she saw Oliver. Both couldn't move, or didn't want to. The blonde-haired woman put a hand on her mouth, as she couldn't believe her eyes.

Oliver was looking at his mother and Bridget stared back at him.


	11. After all this time

**Hey guys! It's been a while again (more than two weeks). I've been busy starting to prepare for my exams and other stories. But now I'm back! Where was I? Oh, right, Oliver and other Bridget meet each other. It's about time you know how this continues, right? So, before you learn what happens next, here are my responses to your reviews:**

 _LabRatsWhore:_ _Thanks for reviewing! You know, that's exactly one of the reasons why Kaz wants to leave: they're the doppelgangers, so everyone will think they're evil. And yes, Bridget. Couldn't leave Oliver's mom out of it. Glad to know your ankle's doing better._

 _TKDP:_ _You never know what you can expect. Who knows, maybe other Alan feels bad about being a semi-good person. Anything is possible! I hope you'll like this chapter and don't worry - we'll learn more about this place and its inhabitants in the next few chapters. Thanks for reviewing!_

 _Shadow-wolf78:_ _Thanks for reviewing! I know; I just had to include her into the story, for reasons you'll get to know later. I know, right? As long as he doesn't try to mess it up again, I'm happy. (Did you see episode 7? It was awesome!)_

 _PurpleNicole531:_ _You're in luck, because we can see how they react to one another right away. For the leader, I was considering Black Falcon and the Annihilator, among others, but eventually I found the only right pick would be Megahertz. Them staying a little longer all depends on whether Oliver can convince Kaz to stay. Or if he will, with Bridget having walked in the room just now. I guess you'll have to read to find out. Thanks for reviewing!_

 **Enjoy!**

 **-Writer207**

* * *

Both stood still, unable to move or speak for a certain amount of time. Megahertz watched them stare at each other and decided to wait until they were ready. Kaz recovered rather quickly, too, finding it weird how fast he could get over the fact that the people he knows as evil are the heroes here. Oliver and Bridget, on the other hand, needed more time to recover from the initial shock. They both stood still, in front of each other, not evil.

Eventually, Oliver couldn't bare the silence anymore. He took a step forward. "Mom?" he said, knowing fully well that this was his mother's doppelganger – though at that moment, he didn't care about that.

Bridget seemed to think the same way. "Oliver?" she said, "Is that really…" she trailed off, fearing – knowing – the answer she'd get wouldn't be what she was expecting.

Oliver shook his head. "I'm not… you're not…" He too had a hard time voicing his thoughts, even if it wasn't really necessary. As long as they understood each other, they didn't have to finish their sentences.

"I figured," Bridget said. She sighed. "I just hoped…"

"I know," Oliver said, nodding. "I don't…"

"Yeah," Bridget said. "It is…"

"True," Oliver said, "So hard."

Kaz looked at his friends and the good Bridget with a confused expression on his face. He was amazed that even across dimensions, a mother and son could understand what the other meant without using full sentences. After Oliver's last words, the silence returned to the room.

Megahertz was about to ask Bridget what brought her here at this hour, but then he saw the smile on her face. He left them in peace a little longer. In the meantime, mother and son couldn't stand to just stare at one another anymore. They began to smile, feeling what would happen next.

"Oliver!"

"Mom!" They hugged one another, smile on their faces. For both, it had been so long since they last held each other, since they last hugged each other. It felt so good. Tears appeared in Bridget's eyes and Oliver seemed to be on the verge of joining her. He didn't – no, he couldn't cry at this moment. He figured he was just happy to see his mother from another dimension was helping the heroes.

"I'm glad you're okay," she eventually said, voice shaking. Oliver nodded, still holding onto her.

"I'm glad to see you again." He was glad to see the Bridget he remembered from his past, the mother who would always be there for her son, no matter what. It felt good seeing her without a lust to take over the world and be overprotective of her son. He was happy that she was still normal and couldn't see her calling herself 'Mr. Terror' in this world.

"Bridget?" Megahertz thought this was a good time to interrupt them. If he didn't do it here and now, he wouldn't manage to do it today. She did sound quite in a hurry. "What do I need to know?"

"Right," she said, she stepped away from her son and wiped her tears, then cleared her throat. "I've got the designs of the new defense systems with me. Just give me a moment." She sat on her knees and started collecting the papers she'd dropped.

Oliver didn't hesitate. "I'll help."

"Thanks." Oliver soon sat on his knees as well and in a short time span, they had gathered all the papers. Oliver gave the ones he collected at Bridget, who placed them in the right order again before handing them over to Megahertz.

The leader nodded. "I'll take a look at them as soon as possible." Then, he turned his back to them to do some work. Kaz, Oliver and Bridget interpreted this the right way and left his 'office'. They did stay in the corridor leading to it, since Bridget and Oliver stopped in the middle of it and Kaz didn't want to continue walking on his own.

"So…" Bridget began speaking, "you're not evil." Oliver nodded.

"No, I'm not," he said, "Neither are you."

"So I'm evil where you're from," she then said. She looked at Oliver with a worried expression on her face. "Did I ever hurt you?"

"Never physically," Oliver said, thinking back at all the times he considered himself an emotional wreck because of her. "And me?"

"Not yet," Bridget said, "But he's coming for me." Silence fell. Neither of them knew how to continue this conversation – it became a bit awkward, to say the least – so Kaz took his chance to say something, too.

"Oliver?" he said, "I don't want to interrupt, but we've got to go home." Oliver looked at his best friend, bewildered by the words he'd said.

"Kaz, we can't leave," Oliver said.

"No," Kaz said, "you can't leave. No offense, but she's not your mother."

"That's right!" Kaz, Oliver and Bridget looked around, trying to find the person who spoke. Eventually, they did find him – inside a screen on the wall. Wi-Fi had joined in the conversation. He looked quite nervous, not even a fake smile on his face. "You're not related." He disappeared briefly, but reappeared soon enough. "Oh," he added, "and yes, do worry about the cold!" He emphasized every word of it, sounding just as nervous as he looked.

"That was weird," Kaz said, frowning. Oliver didn't think about the cyberhero – he could do that at a later time. Right now, there was a friend that needed to be convinced.

"I can't go," Oliver said, " _we_ can't go. They need our help."

"Really?" Kaz said, "Because it looks like they're managing quite well." There was a short pause between the two, one Bridget dared not disrupt, hoping the boys would fill it again eventually. Kaz then sighed. "Oliver, do you want to say because she's a good person?"

Oliver watched Kaz point at Bridget. He opened his mouth to answer the question. "I… I, er…" He soon found out he had to close it again. What was the point in giving the answer anyway? Kaz already knew what he meant to say.

"Thought so," Kaz said. "Now let's go." He took the wormhole generator and stood a little closer to Oliver, while Bridget stepped away from them. She would stay until they'd left. Before Kaz could press the button, Oliver stopped him.

"Kaz, wait," he said, taking a big step away from him. Fortunately, Kaz did wait and did not drag him back to their own world. "Okay, yes. I do want to stay because of mom. But I do really want to help them, too."

Kaz groaned. "Oliver…" he didn't say anything else, giving Oliver the room to continue talking.

"We don't know how many heroes are dead and who's converted. We don't know how many heroes there are here. Sure, they blew up the hospital and villains died, but there will be more. They can attack, they can retaliate and come here. If they do come here, they'll need all the help they can get." Once he was done talking, Kaz sighed – not because Oliver was trying to make a point, but more one out of defeat. He placed his hand on Oliver's shoulder.

"But we're not that good at controlling our powers," he said. As if he was trying to say he did want to help, but that they didn't have the means to do so.

"Then we help them another way," Oliver said, "Kaz, they burned Kenny – your doppelganger hurt him. What makes you think their followers won't come to get revenge for destroying the hospital again?" Kaz was about to answer that nothing made him think that when Megahertz turned around the corner.

"We still can use some help," the leader said. This showed the three he either was listening or they had been talking too loud.

Now, with a bit of pressure from Oliver and Megahertz, Kaz eventually gave in. He nodded. "Fine," he said, "We'll stay. But we're gone after two days if nothing happens. Deal?"

"Deal," Oliver said, nodding, promising they would leave this crazy world behind after two days of inactivity. But a lot can happen in two days. He'd do everything he could to help protect them from their doppelgangers, teach them how to defeat Cryo and Firefly. He would do so much before he had to go back.

"While we're at it," Kaz then said, "why don't we invite Skylar to come over here to help us fight the villains?" He had said it sarcastically, though somewhere deep down wanted to see her again, too. Yet, Megahertz shook his head.

"Oh, that's a bad idea," he said.

"Why?" Oliver asked.

"Do you want her to die?" the leader asked.

"No," Kaz and Oliver simultaneously said. They had to live through it once, neither of them wanted to live through it a second time. The tone Megahertz had used worried them a lot.

"Then you let her stay where she belongs," he said, "Everyone in here hates her more than you realize. If you bring her here, I can't protect her. There are quite some heroes here who would break their oaths to see her dead." Kaz and Oliver were reminded of the Annihilator's outburst and didn't want to think about what might've happened if Wi-Fi wasn't there. They thought about what he could do to Skylar if she came here.

"So no Skylar Storm," Kaz said, "Noted."

"Okay, then," Megahertz said, "Thank you for staying. Bridget, can you show these boys where they can help?"

Bridget nodded. She lead them away from Megahertz's office, showing them the most important places of the heroes' base. She showed them places Kaz and Oliver never came and never read about. As if they built an entire new section to it when they started to use it, even if those parts were as old as the rest of the power plant. Kaz immediately asked where the infirmary was, and so Bridget told him how to get there. Oliver stayed with her as they walked to her own office. And Oliver shivered – if he didn't know any better, he'd say the temperature had dropped a few grades since he left the room where they spent the night.


	12. Family matters

**Hello everyone! Here I am again with the newest chapter of The Other World. So, in the second half of January I have my exams, which means that I will primarily be studying in January. I might update this story again in December, but you'll have to wait a little longer for the next chapter. Either way, here is the new chapter, after my replies to your reviews:**

 _LabRatsWhore:_ _Thanks for reviewing! Let's just say she was like Earth-1 Skylar, except she didn't hold back at all (what you can see duriing S2E1 of Mighty Med, the fight at the end, but times ten) and was one of the evilest beings in the universe. She is just plain dangerous. If she'd been around, it would be over quickly and the good guys would lose._

 _Shadow-wolf78:_ _So you've noticed Wi-Fi. I was wondering who'd notice. You know, the chapter title for last chapter would've been "cold" but I decided against it because I thought it'd be too obvious. Thanks for reviewing!_

 _PurpleNicole531:_ _Thanks for reviewing! Yes, Bridget is one of the good guys in that world. I couldn't let them come to that world without Oliver meeting Bridget. Yes, let's hope so. Either way, let's see if they're strong enough to beat Cryo and Firefly._

 _CaptainMansBabyGirl:_ _Here's the next chapter._

 **Enjoy!**

 **-Writer207**

* * *

Oliver followed his mother into her office, though that wasn't the correct word to use in this context. It was more of a room with desks filled with all sorts of trinkets and spare parts lying around. There was one small space on a desk where her computer stood and some papers lay, but that was it when it came to free space. There were two chairs as well.

"You're an engineer?" he asked her, looking at everything around him. Bridget shook her head.

"Not really, I'm not good at this." she said, "A friend does most of the work. I'm more a secretary than anything else, but at least I'm able to help him." It appeared she didn't mind being a friend's secretary – she was already glad to help the heroes defend themselves from the villains.

Then, a period of silence followed. Oliver sat down on one of the chairs while Bridget organized her place on the desk into a neater place, for as far as it was possible. They both thought about what they could ask or tell each other. What was appropriate, what wasn't? What could they talk about? Both thought of the evil counterpart when looking at each other, but were unaware of how they came to be in both words.

Eventually, Bridget couldn't stand the silence anymore. She turned to Oliver. "What am I like?" He blinked once. He hadn't expected Bridget to ask the question, though he wasn't surprised when it was asked.

He didn't think twice. If Bridget asked for her alternate origin story, he wouldn't withhold that information from her.

"You're different," Oliver said, "You have always been quite controlling of my life. Oliver, wear this. Oliver, don't hang around Kaz. Oliver, you'd better not be in that silly comic book store. You once suggested I should get a new set of teeth. But everything was fine, you just weren't always around because of your job. Then, my boss, Horace, fell in love with you. On the wedding day, we learned you were actually a powerless but feared villain named Mr. Terror. You touched the Arcturion. Horace brought you back to life."

"That's terrible," Bridget said. she sat down next to Oliver, on the other chair. He didn't know if she was talking about the resurrection, her general behavior or the fact that she dared to touch the Arcturion. She could've also been talking about all three. Oliver nodded in response. The memory came back to life, speaking what he saw happen in front of his eyes.

"He brought you back, but you didn't quite return. You were the same overprotecting mother, but not quite. You were too powerful for your own good. You set out to conquer the world to keep me safe. You could easily take down Optimo, controlled your powers like a professional villain. You scared me in a way I never thought of as possible."

That's where he stopped. That was all Bridget needed to hear. Oliver dealt with the memories while Bridget tried to imagine what it must've been like for him.

"That's hard," Bridget eventually said. She placed her hand on Oliver's shoulder. He turned his head to her. "I'm sorry that had to happen to you."

Oliver nodded in response. Now he was done talking, curiosity welled up in him. If his mother has powers, does Bridget have them as well? Probably, but how did she get them? And what if she didn't?

"Do you have any…" Oliver asked, but he trailed off. What if she had them? What if she hadn't? Would she consider the question rude or not?

Bridget nodded. "Yes," she said, having understood what Oliver tried asking her. "Not by choice, but yes."

"How did it happen?" She didn't say anything for a moment and Oliver started to fear he should've kept his mouth shut. Fortunately for him, she just was mentally preparing for telling her story and eventually started talking.

"I figured out my son and Kaz were helping the villains when they were defeated. I scolded him about it. At first I thought he was forced to do it, but then I learned he was paid for it, along with Kaz. When I figured out on my wedding day that Horace was working with them…" Bridget sighed in defeat and slumped her shoulders.

"My heart broke," she said, after a while "I learned there was this space rock that could kill, but give powers when you survive it. I thought, to protect Oliver, that if I touched the stone, he'd know how dangerous it was. And if I somehow survived, I'd have the power to teach Oliver the right way. But I died and Horace brought me back."

"He must've really loved you," Oliver said, "Villains don't easily bring people back from the dead." Bridget nodded in agreement.

"I woke up with these powers and how to control them. It scared me, it still does. But Kaz and Oliver had grabbed me while I held the rock and gained powers themselves. I'd given them what they've always wanted. They ran away, but Horace stayed with me. He truly loved me." She glanced at the wedding ring at her finger. "Cryo and Firefly took over the hospital. They became more powerful and more evil. One day, I couldn't recognize my son anymore. He'd become a monster."

The smile on her face turned to sadness when she mentioned her son's fate. Oliver wanted to support her, comfort her, but froze. He had no idea if it was appropriate to hug her, put his hand on her shoulder, or do anything else that required contact.

"I'm sorry about that," Oliver said, "If there's anything I can do—"

"Nothing," Bridget said, turning her head to him. "You're already doing me a favor. Sitting here, talking to you. Knowing you're not evil." Oliver nodded. It did him well now he knew a version of his mother didn't try to take over the world.

There was a pause. Now they've broken the ice, Oliver couldn't stay silent. His curiosity took the better of him and he blurted out the next question. "What am I like?"

"You were a nice kid. Very friendly," she said. Her grimace and worry were clearly visible on her face. "But one day, it all went downwards. He's not just evil, he's mad. He loves to hurt and enjoys taking lives. He may seem calm and keep it, but when he's angry… you should've been there when Tecton ran away in terror when Cryo turned on everyone." She turned her head to Oliver for the first time since she started speaking. Oliver could now not only see worry, but fear, too. The look in her eyes worried Oliver. A mother shouldn't be afraid of her son.

"Don't try to fight him," she said "I don't want you to die." It sounded like a warning, one Oliver could not ignore.

These words made him think – what if Cryo made it out alive? There was a small chance, but still it could happen. If he hadn't, everything would be fine. But if he did survive… oh, he'd be furious. The last thing that happened to him was being tortured with fire. He definitely would not be in a good mood. He'd want revenge – all villains wanted revenge when something bad or embarrassing happened.

Oliver jumped up from his chair when the door opened. He sighed in relief when it was Kaz who walked in, and not Firefly or Cryo. He wanted to ask him how his brother was doing when he saw the sad, if not depressed look on Kaz's face. Oliver frowned.

"What's wrong?" he asked his best friend.

"Kenny's dead," he said, looking straight at Oliver. The temperature dropped a few grades. "The burn wounds were too… it killed him."

"I'm sorry," Oliver said, condoling Kaz. He placed a hand on Kaz's shoulder, showing support. Kaz nodded, glad to hear these words. He also shrugged after a while.

"I don't even know why I'm sad," he said, "It's not really Kenny."

"He's still your brother." The boys turned to Bridget as she spoke. She had continued working, following the conversation with great interest, until this moment. "It's okay to feel sad."

"Thanks," Kaz said, nodding. He turned his head back to Oliver, to continue the conversation. "I just can't believe it. Firefly just killed him, without hesitation. He just…" Kaz trailed off. He looked at his hands. Always, they would come out unscathed after using fire. Always, something else would be burning or hot. "I don't want to be that person."

"Don't worry, Kaz," Oliver said, "We'll never be like them. We don't steal powers. We don't kill. We're not evil."

Kaz nodded, but he still was hesitant about his future. What if he'd become Firefly in the future? What if he started using the flames for evil? "I'm just worried," he said, "If Firefly can kill with them…"he trailed off. He did not want or intend to finish the sentence. Oliver wouldn't force him to.

"Maybe they do need our help," Kaz eventually said. Oliver nodded. At least they agreed about it now. They had to help the people around here be prepared for an act of revenge. If it wouldn't come from Firefly or Cryo, it could be from a surviving villain.

"Maybe," Oliver said in agreement with Kaz. Who knows, maybe they didn't even need their help the next few days. Maybe they could handle the situation themselves.

Kaz shivered next to him and started rubbing his arms. He turned his head to Bridget.

"Is it me, or is it getting colder in here?" he said. Oliver shrugged – he could bare the cold, because of his powers. Unfortunately, that meant he is more susceptible to the heat. He used to love it so much, but now he almost melted when it was pleasantly warm. Kaz had the same problem when the temperature was too cold.

"We don't change the temperature inside," Bridget said.

"Then the cold from outside penetrates the building," Kaz said, lighting his hand to

making fire to warm himself. "Really, I never knew it could be this cold in Philadelphia."

"It can," Oliver said, as he put two and two together. "Cryo lives here."

"Are you suggesting…?" Kaz began, and Oliver nodded. Yes, it was what he was suggesting. How else could it be so cold in this city in this time of the year? It couldn't be Absolute Zero, he never had been the type to freeze an entire city. But there was someone else with ice and cold powers who lived in Philadelphia, someone who could be furious about last night's events.

"Megahertz needs to know," he said and both boys ran out of the room to warn the leader. If only they weren't too late.


	13. Bargain

**Hey everyone. Happy new year! Let's all hope 2017 will be better than 2016. Anyway, I managed to write this piece during my study breaks. Couldn't let you wait any longer for this chapter, so here it is! But first, here are my responses to your reviews:**

 _LabRatsWhore:_ _Thanks for reviewing! Yes, she is scary. And extremely powerful. And she doesn't hold back. If she were around in this story, there really wouldn't be much of a story to tell, except that she'd rule supreme and kills everyone who looks like an opponent. Let's be glad she doesn't consider the Earth important enough for her to conquer._

 _CaptainMansBabyGirl:_ _Here is the chapter._

 _Shadow-wolf87:_ _Thanks for reviewing! Well, thank you for that. I hoped someone would notice, since his anxiety returns this chapter._

 _PurpleNicole531:_ _Yes, they could bond more, if they have the time to do so. That connection between them can be explored further. Yeah, Kenny died. I don't think Firefly would let him live after hurting Cryo so much. As a villain, he only cares about his partner, not evil-turned-good-ish brother. Either way, both know what they were doing. If Firefly hadn't killed him, Kenny would've definitely killed Cryo. Let's hope this chapter will meet your expectations. Thanks for reviewing!_

 **Enjoy!**

 **-Writer207**

* * *

Oliver and Kaz ran as fast as they could. Both boys thought of arriving in Megahertz's office as soon as possible, but as they rushed through the hallways, they figured finding their way back to it was harder than they thought. The only good thing about this running was speed and being able to warm themselves. Eventually, they did find it, suddenly coming to a halt. They slipped a few more yards before completely stopping without bumping into anything.

Megahertz had noticed the surprise entrance and was watching them come into the office. They would've bumped into him if he hadn't stepped away on time. The leader sighed – something was wrong. They wouldn't come running in if it wasn't bad.

"What is it?" he asked them. Neither answered his question immediately. The two stood there, hands on their knees, panting heavily. They may have run too long.

"They're coming back," Oliver eventually managed to say, "Cryo. Maybe Firefly, too."

Megahertz frowned. "What are you talking about? They were in the hospital when we blew it up." He was starting to fear staying in another dimension caused them to see things that weren't there, to imagine threats. It has happened to some other doppelgangers – they lost their minds, too.

"They're alive," Kaz said, "They're coming here."

"They're dead," Megahertz said calmly. He wasn't good with people, he didn't know ow they could react to the fact that they fabricated the story.

"Then why… is it getting colder?" Oliver asked him, still a bit tired from running. Megahertz opened his mouth to answer, to say it was nothing. He closed his mouth - he, too, had noticed it was getting colder, but he blamed not having enough money to pay for heat for the cold. He never would think to link it back to Cryo, especially not since he gave the orders to destroy the hospital and everyone in it.

"I don't know anything about them," Oliver continued when Megahertz shut his mouth, "but mom does. She's afraid of him and I know she can't be the only one. If he's coming here, we're done for.

"If I were a villain," Kaz added, "– but I'm not – I'd try to get revenge on whoever blew up my stuff." He didn't say much more – the running had tired him more than Oliver.

Megahertz nodded in agreement. "Good point," he said, "but it could also be Absolute Zero. He likes coming around and threatening us."

Kaz frowned. "He knows the location?"

Megahertz nodded and shrugged. So Absolute Zero knew where to find them, so what? It's not as if nobody knew where the villains lived. "Most of them do," Megahertz said, "They can't get in. We've placed a force field around the premises. We never let it down. The only way in or out is with Wi-Fi."

Oliver and Kaz looked at each other, determined to convince Megahertz they were right. They were about to speak up when an alarm started blaring. It wasn't very loud, but loud enough to make them jump up. Megahertz didn't flinch, but did walk to a set of computer screens at the other side of the room.

Kaz and Oliver followed him, curious about what he was going to do. "What's that noise?" Oliver yelled, to get Megahertz to hear him ask it even with that alarm. Right after he'd shouted it, the alarm was turned off. Some tone was still audible in their ears, though.

"That's the alarm," Megahertz said, not looking at them, rather focusing on the screen. "Motion sensors went off at our borders."

"What is it?" Kaz asked, a little too loudly.

It took a while before Megahertz responded or moved after taking a closer look at the screen. "Firefly," Megahertz said, astonished by the view. Kaz and Oliver came closer and saw what Megahertz was looking at. Firefly, in full costume, stood on the green, walking up and down, not able to go any further than an invisible border. He looked at a point at the other side of the line, glaring at that point.

"Where's Cryo?" Oliver asked, "Did he come, too?"

"I don't know," Megahertz, "He hasn't shown up yet. Maybe he's waiting a bit farther away, maybe he didn't come. We'll have to wait and see."

At that moment, Firefly lost the little patience he had. He stood still in one place, still glaring furiously at the point at the other side of the invisible barrier. He unfolded his arms. "Hey! You! Let us in!" Us. He took a short break before continuing to shout, at a slightly softer tone. "I don't want any trouble. Let us kill the traitor, then we're gone."

"So they do want revenge." The three turned their heads when the fourth voice joined in. It was Wi-Fi. If he had looked bad on the screen earlier today, then right now he looked worse. He was anxious about something, so nervous his legs were shaking. He could barely hide it anymore. "That's usually why they show up here. Do you need me to scare 'em away?"

"Just stay here," Megahertz said, having noticed Wi-Fi's anxiety. Wi-Fi nodded in agreement and relief.

"They're after Kenny!" Kaz shouted eventually, once he'd finally put two and two together. He probably would've figured it out sooner if Wi-Fi hadn't barged in unannounced.

"Or Captain Atomic," Oliver said – they couldn't be sure about the identity of the 'traitor'. They could be here for either, or both. Or maybe for someone completely different.

"Either way," Wi-Fi said, to avoid a pointless discussion, "they'll have to try better to get in here." He shook his head in disapproval of the shouting, despite Firefly having shut up for a while.

The silence did not last long, though. Firefly soon began shouting again. "Megahertz! Wi-Fi! Let us in!" It looked like Wi-Fi flinched when he heard his name, but the cyberhero claimed a chill just ran down his spine. Firefly continued, but had stopped shouting. He was just talking at this point. "We had a deal," Firefly said, "I'm giving you five minutes."

Wi-Fi's face turned paler and he looked horrified. Megahertz turned his head to the hero – it was hard to see Wi-Fi making deals with villains. "What is he talking about?"

Wi-Fi didn't hesitate, answered immediately. "It was him who called me this morning," he said – as he spoke, it looked like the nervousness disappeared. Kaz and Oliver at least thought so, but Megahertz knew he hid it behind his fast words and lack of eye contact. "They offered me a million dollars for one easy job. They want me to switch off the force field."

Megahertz placed a hand on Wi-Fi's shoulder. "You made the right choice."

Even before Megahertz was done talking, Wi-Fi shook the hand off of it. He clearly did not want to be touched. He folded his arms. "No," he said, "I haven't made my choice yet."

"Then what's holding you back?" Kaz asked him. Megahertz briefly glared at the young boy, a villain-worthy glare, asking to please stay out of this situation.

"It's not about the money." Wi-Fi still answered the question. "If I don't do this, the world will know my birth name. I can't let them share that with the world. What I did before this… they'll want to sue me for theft, for breaching privacy and so much more. I'll have to go to jail." Wi-Fi looked up, straight at Megahertz's face with a look of determination. "I'm very sorry, but they're coming in here."

He walked past Megahertz and stood in front of the computer. And stayed there. So far, he wasn't doing anything fruitful. Megahertz decided to go stand next to him. He knew Wi-Fi would rather keep his identity a secret to the point that even he himself couldn't be sure anymore what it was. Wi-Fi was Wi-Fi, never using any other name than that one. Not even his colleagues knew his real name. it was world's best kept secret, which had a chance of being revealed within five minutes.

Megahertz sighed. "Wi-Fi –"

"I'll only give them a few seconds," he said, still staring at the screen, "That's more than enough time for them to come in here. They get what they want, my name stays a secret. A perfect win-win situation. And we'll have them trapped."

"What if they escape?" Megahertz then ask. "Or worse: what if they kill everyone in this base?"

Wi-Fi shook his head, determined about executing his plan. "At least we'll have tried."

"There has to be another way," Megahertz said, "I am not endangering lives because you're afraid to tell people who you really are."

Wi-Fi seemingly didn't react to those words, but Megahertz knew it had to be harsh, hearing them like that.

"Thirty seconds," Firefly said. in his hand, they could see he was holding a small device, a phone maybe. Just one push on the screen and everyone would know Wi-Fi's real name. "Get us in."

"I'm doing it," Wi-Fi said. without any more hesitation, he dematerialized and appeared on the screen. Not as a head this time, but also in full body. He waited, watched Megahertz, as if he was expecting some last words.

Megahertz did not disappoint. "Are you sure I can't convince you to get out of there?"

"Prepare yourselves," Wi-Fi said in response, "Here I go." Then, the cyberhero disappeared from the screen. A loud alarm started blaring, louder than the previous one. This time, the lights were also turning red, telling everyone in the building, whether they're deaf or blind, some villains made it past the force field. On the screen, they could see how Firefly reached out and, once he realized the barrier was gone, he took off and flew closer. As soon as he disappeared from their views, a shadow started to approach the place where the force field had been. It had to be Cryo, who else could it be? Yet, the camera was disabled before they could see it. Static appeared on it, indicating no damage.

Eventually, after just ten to twenty seconds, Megahertz had managed to turn off the alarm. The noise faded away, but the lights were still bright red. After just a few pushes, the camera was back online. The shadowy figure had already passed the camera.

Another villain came running in, one Kaz and Oliver did not know off. He ran straight into the force field, stumbling backwards. It looked like Wi-Fi had fulfilled his promise. he'd lain the foundation of rebuilding the force field around this place. Two villains still got in, but he kept his word.

"Go to Bridget," Megahertz ordered the two boys, slipping into his role as the leader. "Tell her we need her to suit up."

Kaz and Oliver nodded, but also looked at each other in surprise and confusion.

"She fights?" Kaz asked him. This Bridget did not look like a fighter to him, and whatever Oliver got to know before he walked in, he could expect only peace from her.

"No," Megahertz said, "she does not. But she's the strongest woman on Earth, if not in the universe. If there's anyone who can beat Cryo and Firefly, it's her."

Kaz could agree with the last statement, but Oliver couldn't find peace with it.

"If there's anything a mother can't do, it's hurting her children," Oliver said. The mother from his own world, the Bridget who took out Argento, was evil and all-powerful, yet still did not think about touching her son, of hurting her son like she'd hurt Optimo. She and the Bridget from this world probably shared that trait.

Megahertz turned his head to them. "You'd be surprised," he said, using a tone which suggested they didn't know anything about this Bridget, "Now go! I've got a force field to put back on and you are quite distracting." Kaz and Oliver did as they were told. Without hesitation, they ran out of the room, straight to Bridget's room (for as far as they remembered which way to go).

Kaz hoped she would help them defeat Cryo and Firefly. Oliver knew they could already be glad if she listened to their words and told them she'd think about it.


	14. A monster

**Hey everyone! My exams are over, so here I am with the newest chapter of 'The other world'. Hope you like it! At least I like how this turned out to be. But, as usual, before I go to the chapter itself, here are my replies to your reviews:**

 _Shadow-wolf78:_ _Thanks for reviewing! This is the soonest I could get it online, so here it is! Hope you enjoy._

 _CaptainMansBabyGirl:_ _Here is the next chapter._

 _LabRatsWhore:_ _Thanks for reviewing! Maybe, maybe not. We should see where it leads, but hopefully Netflix is willing to pick them up. And Megahertz wants Bridget to be involved because she's the strongest woman in the building, if not on Earth. He doesn't really want her to fight her son, but since he beliieves there's no other way to stop him, he's asking her. He wouldn't have asked her if there was another way._

 _PurpleNicole531:_ _Well, that depends on whether she wants to fight or not. Either way, I know you'll enjoy it. Thanks for reviewing!_

 **Enjoy!**

 **-Writer207**

* * *

Oliver and Kaz left Megahertz's office and raced through the hallways back to Bridget's. Despite the trouble they had going to Megahertz, they remembered how they got there and used that knowledge to find the way back to Bridget. Eventually, they ran into her 'office' and came to a halt.

Bridget looked at the two as they stopped right before they could bump into her. "Boys!" she said, "What's happening?" The alarm had been audible from this place, giving her an idea of what might be going on. Occasions like these were seldom, but when they happened, everyone was ready to do what they had to do.

"Cryo and Firefly are here," Oliver said. Bridget looked at the boys with a puzzled look on her face. She placed the piece of metal she was holding back where she found it.

"How did they get in?" She asked them, the look on her face growing more concerned and a hint of fear in her voice.

"It's a long story," Oliver said.

"In short: Megahertz wants you to fight," Kaz explained in the shortest way he could. They were losing time - for all they knew, their doppelgangers would walk through that door in a few minutes. Her face hardened, her expression became indifferent with a hint of anger.

"You can go back and tell him I can't do that," she said, trying to sound as neutral as possible. She didn't quite succeed.

"But—"

"No," she said, interrupting Kaz, looking straight at him. "That's my final answer, I'm not doing it." She turned her back to the boys and continued to take a breakable object into a safer location in this room.

"Why not?" She stopped when she heard Oliver's voice, "I'm just curious." She sighed, placed the object into an empty drawer. She closed the drawer before turning back to Kaz and Oliver. Once again, she looked concerned.

"If I use them…" she trailed off immediately, continuing with a new sentence. "Power corrupts. If I use them once, I may use them again and before I know it, I can't a minute go without them. Before I realize it's too late, I'll want to have more power and become more powerful and…" She shook her head. "I can't use them. Don't force me to do it."

Kaz and Oliver looked at each other once. They had never thought of power like that. Maybe that was how it all started for Cryo and Firefly...

"We're not forcing you to do anything," Oliver said. Bridget nodded, breathing out in relief. She relaxed her tense body after hearing those words.

"Good."

"But you're the only one strong enough to stop them," Kaz said, using a hint of objection to Oliver's words in his tone and body language. Bridget nodded.

"I know," Bridget said, "But I can't hurt my son, no matter how evil he is." Oliver nodded in agreement, as he completely understood the feeling. She couldn't hurt her son, just as Oliver couldn't hurt his mother.

"But you can hurt Firefly, right?" Kaz still tried - Cryo was off-limits, but that didn't mean Firefly was. "That's not your son."

Bridget sighed and looked at Kaz, "I would really like to help, but I'm not going to fight." Then, she looked at Oliver. "Go tell Megahertz I'm not fighting anyone."

Oliver nodded. "Okay." The two boys turned around and walked out of the room. Oliver went out first, closely followed by Kaz. They turned right, ready to inform Megahertz of Bridget's decision. Well, at least they tried. Oliver hadn't expected anything else, anyway. Kaz, on the other hand, was a bit disappointed by the turn of events.

"You know, we—" Kaz began, but never finished his sentence. He stopped talking at the same time they stopped in their tracks. Someone walked around the corner, looking at them. It wasn't just anyone who had come around the corner, though. The young man was not wearing any costume, nor did he need any to be identified. Yet, this was the first time they saw him walking around with long sleeves.

"Firefly!" Oliver exclaimed. Both he and Kaz assumed a fighting stance, even if they were unsure how the potential fight could end for them. Firefly stopped in his tracks, too, and shot a look of annoyance in their direction.

"Easy," he said, sounding quite bored, "I'm not here to fight." He held up his hands in the air. This gesture did not mean much, since his hands (and to an extent, his body) were a weapon all on their own. At the least, it was a way to show them ne did not have any bad intentions. Yet.

"Then what are you here for?" Oliver asked him.

"To kill." Firefly spoke about it as if it he did it every day. A shiver ran down their spines. "Give me my brother's location and I'll leave you in peace." Kaz and Oliver looked at each other, not sure how to feel with that request. Though, both were slightly relieved. If Kenny is why they came, they had come for nothing.

"I know he's here," Firefly continued, "This'll be over quickly if you—"

"He's dead," Kaz interrupted him, "You killed him, you—"

"I-I have?" Firefly stammered and his eyes widened. For the first time, it looked like he was afraid. "Oh no, no!" he exclaimed, "That's bad news…" He turned his back to them for a short while, running his hands through his hair.

"So you still care about him?" Kaz wondered out loud. It was the only reason he could see why his doppelganger would say that. Maybe be wasn't that bad after all.

"Hell no," Firefly said, turning back to them. He shook his head. "It's a good riddance at best. He was getting annoying. No, it's bad news for me," he pointed at himself, "Cryo wanted to kill him."

"Is there any difference?" Oliver asked. From what he'd seen, the two villains worked together so often, it would not matter who was the one to put down the Incinerator.

Firefly glared at Oliver. "You don't understand," he said, dangerously calmly, "You don't know Cryo like I do. If I made the decisions, I wouldn't come here until I'm back at full strength, let alone right away!"

"Are you afraid of him?" Firefly's attention shifted from Oliver to Kaz immediately, eyes flaring up and fury all across his face.

"How dare you suggest that!" Firefly said, almost yelled it.

Kaz nodded - he wasn't buying his evil doppelganger's act. "You know, there's one person you can never fool, and that's yourself." Firefly didn't respond to those words, but he only looked away from the two. Kaz took one small step in his direction. "You're afraid of Cryo."

"You'd better be, too!" Firefly snapped when he realized he couldn't keep the fear hidden forever.

"What makes him so scary?" Oliver asked out of curiosity.

"This," Firefly said. He rolled up his right sleeve and at the height of his elbow, there was a dark spot. Kaz and Oliver took a few steps to see it more clearly. They both thought it was a bruise. Yet, as they came closer, they realized it couldn't be. The spot was dark blue and a bit purple in the middle, with the outer borders being a light blue.

Once that realization hit them, they stepped back again.

"What the—?" Kaz said, unable to finish his sentence. Both he and Oliver looked at it in pure horror.

"It's ice, in case you were wondering," Firefly said, pulling the sleeve down again. The two visitors had no idea how he could talk and act like it did not bother him. He continued, "I'm guessing the temperature is around absolute zero. It's burning up my skin, eating it away, spreading through my arm. It's Cryo's gift for me."

"Can't you just…" Kaz began, "You know…" he didn't succeed in trying to tell Firefly to burn up the ice, to cancel it out with his heat. He could not find the words, nor put it his advice into words correctly. Firefly shot him an annoyed look.

"If I could do anything about it, I wouldn't be here. Even with my powers, it's hard to make sure it won't spread. I guess the only way to get rid of it is amputation." With his left arm, he made a gesture meant to symbolize him cutting his arm of.

"What happened?"

"Cryo told me we needed to kill Kenny as soon as possible," Firefly looked at them, one at a time. "I wanted to give us some time to heal. He then grabbed my arm and basically took over command."

"He just took your arm?" Kaz said, disbelief clearly audible in his voice. Oliver was thinking the same thing. Firefly nodded.

"He is angry, mad and beyond control. He only ever reaches absolute zero when he's pissed off. And right now, he's set his eyes on Kenny. Once he figures out he's dead... you might as well get out of here as soon as possible. When he knows, I assume there'll be a new ice age. That, and he'll kill everyone in this building – no, scrap that, he'll kill the entire city." He may deny it in the future, but this sounded a lot like a warning to Kaz and Oliver and, hidden under it all, a cry for help.

Oliver took one more step towards him, prompting Firefly to take a step back, lifting his hand, ready to fire if he had to. "If you join us, we can defeat him together, " Oliver said. Okay, they may not be able to do that, but they could always try. And if Captain Atomic once managed to break away from evil, maybe Firefly could too.

"I may be afraid, but I'm not desperate," Firefly said, "I can take care of myself, thank you. Also, you can't defeat him. He's more powerful than the two of you combined."

"Why did you warn us?" Kaz then asked him. Firefly looked at the two before giving an answer.

"I'm a decent man," Firefly responded, "I'm hurt and unable to hold my own against him. You've got to know what he's capable of. Besides, you'll have to stop the maniac while I can bring myself to safety, out of reach." Kaz and Oliver looked at each other, not sure how to react other than telling him they wouldn't be able to hold their own against Cryo.

From afar, they could hear a loud roar coming from a spot not far from where they stood, followed by loud screaming. The victim's sounds were far more human than the roar had been. Firefly shortly turned his head before looking at the two again. He was visibly upset.

"Good luck staying alive," he said, "I'll come back in a week to piece you back together." He started t fly away – flying had always been faster than walking. As soon as he passed them, Kaz couldn't shut his mouth.

"Coward!" Firefly took a sharp turn, turning around to look at Kaz again.

"What did you call me?" Firefly said, sounding furious. Yet, Kaz wasn't too intimidated by him. He folded his arms.

"Coward," he repeated, "You're a coward. You have great abilities and can do anything you want. And yet you run away instead of facing your friend."

"Trying to survive isn't cowardice," Firefly said, "It's merely survival. If you're smart, you'll run, too."

Kaz shrugged. "Still. Cryo's your responsibility, as Oliver's mine. Friends keep each other in check, especially when they have such great powers."

In response Firefly shrugged, too. "Too bad," he said, "Cryo and I never have been good friends, anyway." With those words, he turned back around and flew away from them. Kaz and Oliver watched Firefly leave the scene before watching each other for one moment. They had to warn Megahertz about Bridget's decision. Without news, he may assume she agreed to fight. But since going right wasn't an option anymore - no, there was a beast there - they chose to take the long way around.

"You!" They had barely taken any steps when the voice called out for them. They turned around and froze, standing eye to eye with Cryo. He still was quite a distance away, but that didn't make him any less terrifying. The villain moved closer to them, as slowly as he possibly could. Around him, on the walls, the ceiling and the ground, frost crept along with him. With every step, the frost colored the walls icy blue. With every step, it felt like the cold became more prominent, more present. Even Oliver started to feel the cold now.

But none of that was what had drawn their attention. No, it was his appearance that made them watch. At least thirty per cent of his body was covered with a small layer of ice. Another forty per cent, no doubt, _was_ ice, with his pale blue skin and small cracks here and there. That left only thirty per cent for actual, not infected human flesh. His face alone was half flesh, half ice.

"What did you do to yourself?" Oliver breathed, unable to take his eyes off of his doppelganger. Was this how his other self would stay? Was this how he'd go through life from now on?

"What _I_ did?" Cryo said, shaking his head, always coming closer, one step at a time. He looked furious, with his clenched fists and the angry expression on his face. " _I_ acted out of self-defense. This is what _he_ made me to be! He thought it was a good idea to burn me. Guess what? He shouldn't have done that."

The distance between Cryo and Kaz and Oliver was about five yards. The two visitors started backing away, something Cryo either seemed to drive crazy or happy. It was hard to tell with the ice covering half his face.

In the meantime, Kaz regained the ability to speak. "Dude, you're half ice!" Maybe it wasn't the best comment he could make in this situation.

"I didn't have any choice!" Cryo shouted. The temperature dropped with another few degrees. "I'd have died. Now, I have one question for you. Where is he?" Both Kaz and Oliver remained uncertain - they wouldn't tell him Kenny was already dead. With insanity clearly visible in his eyes, he kept looking at them, waiting for them to answer.

He almost didn't notice someone was trying to be courageous. Raneya had come around the corner, now walking closer to Cryo, who didn't seem to hear her approach. When the Sandwoman was close enough, she raised her hands, ready to put him to sleep and end the threat.

Unfortunately, Cryo was faster. At lightning speed, the villain turned around and placed his hands on her head. She struggled to push them off, but it was no use. Oliver and Kaz could vaguely hear the villain say 'how do you like that?'. Even if Raneya didn't say anything, she was suffering and trembling. Ice started to spread from Cryo's hand onto Raneya's body, contaminating her. From that point, it spread so fast the whole process was done in a few seconds. After the head, the ice spread through her entire body, until there was only an ice sculpture left, crafted by Cryo.

With one punch, he ended her. Pieces of Raneya fell on the ground as she shattered into a billion pieces. The biggest shard was as big as a toe. Kaz and Oliver couldn't stop watching the scene and were left horrified by the semi-smile on Cryo's face.

Then, Cryo looked at them again. "I'm going to repeat myself only once," he said, "Where is the Incinerator?"

They couldn't answer. They couldn't speak at the moment, not when they just witnessed a murder. Yet, they'd be glad to tell Cryo he was at the other side of the facility, regardless of what he'd do to them afterwards, to get away from him.

"Cryo!" Turning their heads, they could see Firefly had returned to them. With a determined look on his face he walked closer. Kaz and Oliver breathed in relief – at least his sudden reappearance gave the two a few more moments to live.

"Have you found him?" Cryo asked him. Firefly shook his head, folding his arms. He only stopped walking when he stood between Cryo and his would-be victims.

"I haven't," he said, "Kenny isn't here anymore."

Cryo's face reverted back to looking angry, and quite confused.

"Kenny's dead," Firefly said, looking Cryo in the eyes, "I killed him that night."

Fury reappeared in the villain, as well as insanity showing again. "You _what_!?" The frost on the walls, ground and ceiling solidified, turning into ice. Some of the flesh on his face slowly turned pale and blue as well.

"I killed him," Firefly continued, not raising his voice, "It was an accident, I didn't know that would happen. Maybe you can freeze his remains now, if you can find them." Cryo shook his head once.

"You're gonna pay for that."

As soon as he had said that, he charged. Kaz and Oliver stood to the side, leaning against the ice-cold wall. Firefly conjured his flames, creating a body armor with the flames covering his body. The only part that flared noticeably less brighter than the rest was where Cryo had contaminated him with the ice. He only had the time to flame on before Cryo hit him. One punch was enough to knock him out, sending him flying backwards, extinguishing the flames. Firefly landed on the ground ten to fifteen yards further. He did not move.

Cryo ignored Kaz and Oliver, walking straight to the only person he once could call his friend. His speed, or his lack thereof, may suggest how much he enjoyed what he was doing and gave his most recent victim a few more seconds to live. When he stopped, standing next to him, Cryo folded his arms, looking down on him.

"Too bad you're unconscious," he said, "I wish I'd be able to see your face." Then, Cryo shrugged and sat down on his knees. He reached out with one hand. With just a few inches to go, he suddenly stopped. Kaz and Oliver waited for the moment he'd touch (and kill) Firefly, but it wouldn't come. However Cryo tried to move, he couldn't. The more he tried, the more frustrated he became. At one moment, he stopped struggling.

"Let me go!" He roared, trying to turn his head. He did not succeed. Oliver and Kaz turned around as well – neither of them were doing it – and saw Bridget had walked into the hallway. She had extended one arm, the palm of her hand opened and pointing at her son.

"You were going to hurt him," Bridget said, not raising her voice. She took a deep breath after talking. Oliver noticed how she was struggling to keep him in check – her hand and arm were trembling slightly. Cryo was even stronger than they thought.

"What's it matter?" Cryo snapped, "I've hurt him before!"

"I won't let you," Bridget then said. Oliver caught a slight tremble, a hint of a shaking voice. He wanted to tell her not to strain herself too much, but he couldn't. Not now this was happening around him.

"Let me go!" Cryo roared again, "Let me finish this!"

"I can't," Bridget said, "I'm sorry." Then, with a swift move, she waved her hand to the side, closing her eyes before doing so. Cryo flew straight into the wall, hitting it with all the force behind that small gesture. He fell on the ground next to Firefly. He too didn't get up.

Once Kaz and Oliver were certain neither would stand up, they turned their heads back to Bridget. She did not look well, slowly opening her eyes again and staring at Cryo.

"You did it…" Kaz breathed. Bridget nodded.

"I know…"

"For someone who doesn't use her powers much, that was nicely controlled," Kaz complimented her. She didn't listen to it, didn't want to hear that. Kaz didn't see it, but Oliver did.

"Are you okay?"

Bridget shook her head. "I couldn't let him hurt anyone else," she said. Oliver nodded in understanding. He understood it was hard to do it. Understood that she'd rather not do it. Understood that one day, he may have to do the same to his mother.

He placed a hand on her shoulder. "You did the right thing." Bridget nodded, trying her best to believe those words. Needless to say she would still need a lot of convincing before she would actually consider it a heroic act. Until that day came, she would think of it as her hurting her son, preventing him from maiming and killing anyone else.

Kaz and Oliver looked at the two and eventually confirmed their doppelgangers were alive and unconscious. When Megahertz showed up and told them they knew exactly where to put them to prevent them from doing evil ever again, they both sighed in relief. It was over. Their doppelgangers couldn't pose a threat anymore.


	15. Mighty Max

**Hey guys! Here's the next chapter, a bit sooner than last time! My original plan for this story included having sixteen chapters, which would've made this the penultimate chapter. Yet, I've changed my mind since then. I've decided to combine the fifteenth and sixteenth chapter and this is the result. So, I'd like to thank everyone who reviewed, favorited, followed or just read this story - basically, anyone who showed interest in this story. No writer can go without support. Youguys are the reason I keep writing! If you'd like to read more of me, you can visit my profile to see if you can find anything else that interests you. As for writing for Mighty Med, I suggest you keep your eyes open, for soon I may publish another story.**

 **So, once again, thank you for reading this story! But before we get to the last chapter, here are my final responses to your reviews:**

 _CaptainMansBabyGirl:_ _Here is the next chapter._

 _Shadow-wolf78:_ _Thanks, I was worried for a bit that it wasn't good enough (I still was experiencing some stress when I finished the chapter). Thanks for reviewing!_

 _LabRatsWhore:_ _Thanks for reviewing! I will. And, well, the 'friendship' they have will be explained a bit today (just a tiny bit). And yes, their power levels are going through the roof. If they hadn't been stopped, it wouldn't have taken long before they'd reach Superman-level powers. And yes, Bridget... even I didn't know what she'd do to Cryo until I wrote that part. She seemed a bit of an ex-machina at first, but I kept it in. After all, she couldn't let her son hurt anyone else._

 **Enjoy!**

 **-Writer207**

* * *

I'm not dead. Great.

That was the first thing Firefly thought when he woke up. His memory was a bit hazy, but he knew last night was painful for him. He remembered what happened last night. He had run away from Cryo. He'd had a rather long conversation with the doppelgangers. He then had run away, again because of Cryo. Why he had come back, he didn't know. Firefly would always refer to it as a moment of weakness, as he had faced the stupid innocence of said doppelgangers. The theory he'd stick to, was that insanity shouldn't automatically equal villainy and that Cryo was setting a bad example for potential villains. Either way, he never denied he was genuinely glad to wake up 'unharmed'.

When Firefly eventually opened his eyes, he immediately recognized the location. He did know he's been here before, probably at the other side of the hexagon-shaped entrance to this unfurnished room. He may not be on the other side, but his doppelganger was. Kaz had taken the time to watch him wake up, for some reason.

"Where…?" he began, knowing Kaz would answer the question. An unspoken question was 'Why?' Why are you here and why are you watching me wake up? He couldn't see why Kaz wanted to be there out of free will without being bored too much.

"Mighty Max," Kaz said, as predicted, "We couldn't leave you out there." Why not? It's not like Firefly would've transported them to a high-security prison. No, he probably would've left them to die. His previous actions may contradict his thoughts, but it's all about the principles.

Firefly sat up and looked around. He didn't share his cell with anyone. Yet. He turned his head to Kaz.

"What about Cryo?"

"Undergoing treatment," Kaz said and Firefly sighed. Another why-question popped up in his head. Kaz continued to talk, "They're trying to… Maybe he'll stay here, too."

Stay here? In a maximum security prison which cancels superpowers? Mighty Max was no place for Cryo, and it definitely was not a good idea to put him in the one place where his insanity may skyrocket.

No, putting Cryo here was not a good idea at all. If he survives the treatment. Those were some really bad burns. Firefly grimaced. "You should let that bastard die."

Kaz looked at him with shock and slight disgust. A smile appeared on Firefly's face. They found another point where they could disagree on. Good. The less similar they were, the better. That way, Firefly could distance himself from that goody two-shoes.

"We can't," Kaz said, sounding offended, "We're doctors. We have to try to save him."

"Oh, please!" Firefly said, rolling his eyes. "He wouldn't have saved you. He'd have killed everyone in there."

Kaz nodded. "We know," he said. And still he's trying… it was Firefly's turn to feel disgusted. If you can't save a man, don't waste your resources! Use those resources to become stronger, not to support the people who may never recover. There's no place in this world for the weak, anyway. If the weak were once strong, it still counts. With survival in mind, everyone Firefly knew chooses the strong over the weak. Cryo may not be saved, and that's that.

"No Oliver?" Firefly eventually asked. The lack of the other half of the duo didn't concern him. No, he just wanted to keep the conversation going. You never know who'll talk to you in this forsaken prison. For all he knew, they'd abandon him here without anyone. Okay, there may be someone, but that someone may not be a talkative person.

"He's talking to Chaz, Gulliver and Captain Atomic," Kaz said.

Firefly spat. "Traitor!"

"And your jailor," Kaz responded. Firefly groaned in annoyance. "I suggest being nice to him." If there's one thing Firefly never liked, was obeying the rules or suggestions somebody else made. No, he'd only follow them if he himself had made it. He gave no response to that, just to see how Kaz would react. So far, the both of them were staying strong and remained silent. The staring competition lasted for a full minute before Kaz finally cracked.

"Are we…" he began, "Are you ever going to end up like him?"

Now that's an interesting question. Would they become like Cryo? Unfortunately, the answer's not that easy without Timeline or a person with similar powers. They could only guess.

"That powerful? Hopefully. That crazy? I hope not. That alone is a good reason for you to just put Cryo in one of these cells and be done with it."

Again that shock appeared on Kaz's face. Firefly didn't pay any particular attention to it. After all, he hadn't said anything wrong. He only said what he thought. For some reason, Kaz couldn't live with that kind of honesty. Of course they disagreed, they were like two sides of the same coin.

"I can't believe you can say something like that!" the doppelganger said. Firefly shrugged.

"Two years ago, I wouldn't either." He clearly remembered the day they found the Arcturion. It was the day when the decline of their friendship and the growth of their powers began. Before that day, they could get along quite well. With every power boost, Cryo became more dominant and distant. Firefly never really cared too much, since he too distanced himself from Cryo. "Don't forget there was a time where I actually cared, okay? Having powers changes your relationships."

When he looked at Kaz again, he could guess what he was thinking. That's it. I'm done with this guy. Kaz started to walk away from him. Needless to say, Firefly was not happy with the way his last talk in maybe days, weeks or even months ended.

He stood up and banged his fist against the force field. A false tune could be heard. "Don't you walk away from me! I'm not done talking to you!" He said it as menacingly as he could.

Kaz stopped in his tracks. He turned around and folded his arms.

"Yeah, but I'm done with you," he said. Before he could continue to get away from Firefly, the villain spoke again.

"Aren't you curious?" he said and Kaz frowned. He still didn't leave. Firefly grinned – he had Kaz's attention. "Oh, I can see it in your eyes. 'What does he mean? What else is there to talk about?' I'll tell you… only if you stick around, of course."

Firefly examined the troubled look on Kaz's face. It wasn't hard to see what he was thinking – he too once had that facial expression during when he had no idea what to do. Eventually, Kaz shrugged. A good sign.

"Depends on the topic."

"The multiverse."

Kaz frowned. "What do you know about the multiverse?"

"A lot more than you." Kaz seemed to think about this situation. Then, when it hit him what Firefly was implying, he folded his arms.

"Is that a challenge?" he asked. Firefly grinned. If his doppelganger hadn't been so stupid to ask, he wouldn't have to stay here.

"Yes," he said and Kaz groaned.

"Dang it!" He walked back to the place where he stood before, his arms folded again. "What do you know about the multiverse that I don't?" He sounded irritated – why couldn't he just say 'no' to challenges? – but still remained and allowed Firefly to talk.

"It's a beautiful thing, the multiverse," Firefly said, speaking with such passion and so ardently in the hopes of convincing Kaz of his right. "It's truly beautiful. Jumping into another universe and seeing how similar and, most importantly, how different everything is upon further inspection. You never know where you're going to end up. I know how that feels, I've traveled to plenty."

"To get more power," Kaz commented. Firefly nodded, had to admit that had become the primary goal of their travels.

"And to leave if we couldn't," Firefly said in response. They never hurt themselves if they were powerless. "Still, it's always exciting to visit those worlds. Oh, you should've been there! The possibilities are endless! There's one where we're normal, one where we're spies, one where we're trying to beat a videogame and plenty where we're completely different people. Same face, different names and families. Same goes for Oliver, too."

Kaz shook his head, looking at Firefly. "You're crazy," he said.

Firefly shrugged. "Maybe," he said, "But at least I still care, to a certain degree." Kaz had no idea what to say to that. Firefly figured Kaz had no idea how to cope with his doppelganger's words. There were probably several questions Kaz asked himself. How much does he care? What are the criteria to him caring? Will I go down the same road one day?

"Do me a favor," Firefly said. Kaz looked back at him again. "Visit the multiverse. I know you'll love it."

For a few moments, it looked like Kaz seriously considered visiting the multiverse. Firefly knew his plan had failed when he saw Kaz shrug.

"No, thanks," Kaz said, "I'm going home." Firefly grimaced and banged his fist against the force field again. Kaz didn't was slowly walking away from him.

"Right!" Firefly exclaimed, "Go then. Be boring! Be weak! And wonder what your life might have been like if you'd taken my advice and gone out there."

Kaz was almost completely out of sight. the doppelganger did not turn again, nor did he stop walking or say anything. Firefly was left on his own, in the prison where he once locked up the heroes which stood in his way. He groaned and sat down on his 'bed'.

Firefly noticed the cell opposite of his was empty. He hoped it would stay that and that Cryo wouldn't be put there.

* * *

As Kaz was walking away from his evil doppelganger, he couldn't stop thinking about what Firefly had said. He thought about his reaction to Cryo's treatment, about the passionate talk which leaned closely to insanity, even about the harshness he never would use to speak. Kaz chose to push it deeper into his mind, to lock it away.

"Kaz!" Oliver called out for him when he came into sight. Kaz noticed Oliver was holding a wormhole transporter in his hands. He frowned - wasn't theirs broken? Shouldn't it be close to falling apart? Then, he realized this world also hada wormhole transporter, and that it was probably Cryo and Firefly's.

"Did the negotiations end already?" Kaz asked him and Oliver nodded.

"Yes," Oliver said, "Chaz and Gulliver have agreed to help Captain Atomic with guarding Firefly and his friends. They gave me this." He held up the wormhole transporter. "This is the only one of this world. Cryo and Firefly, if they manage to escape, they can't go beyond this universe."

Kaz nodded. "Great," he said, half a smile plastered on his face. He didn't know what else he could say about it, or how else to react. Not after what Firefly said. How could it affect him so much? Oliver noticed.

"What did Firefly tell you?" Oliver asked, sounding worried about his friend. Kaz shrugged in response.

"He tried to convince me to travel the multiverse and it didn't work," Kaz said, discarding other things Firefly had told him. Knowing himself, he'd probably forget what Firefly had told him within a few months, if he didn't think about it too much. Kaz wasn't planning on reminding himself what Firefly said every day.

"Let's go home, then," Oliver said, discarding the fact that Kaz was hiding something from him. Kaz nodded in response, noticed Oliver couldn't be more happy to go back to his own world, knowing Oliver wouldn't delve any deeper into the matter. He also noticed Oliver was bothered by something as well. He didn't get to talk to Cryo – his doppelganger was sedated and undergoing treatment. Yet, something bothered him. No, scratch that, Kaz knew something (or someone) worried him.

Kaz stood closer to Oliver, allowing him to transport them back home. With one press of a button, they were transported back to their own world, back into the still abandoned Domain. The two assumed a more relaxed stance ever since they left home, relieved to be back and to leave all the trouble from the other world behind, yet irreversibly connected to it because of their actions.

Kaz smiled. "We're back. Wait, are we?" For a split second, he feared they'd ended up in another world with another pair of Kaz and Oliver. He walked over to the comic books and grabbed a random issue, quickly reading through it. He sighed in relief and looked at Oliver. "No, we're good."

Oliver continued to look around in the Domain - it was so good to be home! - before he eventually looked at Kaz. "This feels surreal," he muttered to himself. Yet, Kaz heard it.

"Why?" He asked, putting the comic book from where he got it. "We're home."

Oliver shrugged. "We were stuck in another world for less than 48 hours. It's not much, but... it feels like we've spent an eternity there." Kaz walked closer to him.

"Is that all?" he asked Oliver. When you've been friends for so long, you know when there's more to what your friend is saying. That's how Oliver knew Kaz didn't want to talk about something. That's how Kaz knew Oliver needed an incentive to talk about it, so it wouldn't consume him later in life.

"Mom," Oliver eventually said, confirming Kaz's assumption he was worried about something. He looked at Kaz with a desperate expression in his eyes. "Kaz, how can I face her when I know she could've still been good?"

Kaz shrugged, telling Oliver he may have to wait for his answer when he thought about what he could say to him. When it comes to family, Kaz had the most experience. Eleven siblings, parents who stopped looking after you– but who still fed and dressed you – once you reached the age of twelve. Older brothers incarcerated for felonies and misdemeanors. And yet, that didn't affect the family dynamic. Kaz often visited Kevin and his older brothers and his family. He still kept a good relationship with his family.

And then he knew what to say to Oliver.

"With dignity and determination and love," Kaz said, "Oliver, she's evil, but she also loves you. All she did was choosing to do the wrong things, the evil things, to protect you from any harm. She's good, but in an evil way. Wait…" At that point, Kaz was confusing himself, as he couldn't find the proper words to describe Bridget.

"Kaz," Oliver said, stopping himself from thinking too much about it. He understood what his friend was trying to say. "Thanks. I couldn't have said it better myself. I needed that." He was clearly moved by his short speech and a smile of appreciation appeared on his face.

Kaz nodded in response. "You're welcome," he said, "But now we should get back. Skylar will be so worried." When they left to go to the Domain, they had told Skylar it wouldn't take them too long. They told her they needed a few moments to relax before getting back to work. By now, it wouldn't be surprising if Skylar was searching for them, maybe even blaming a random villain for kidnapping them. They had no idea what she'd do in case they disappeared.

Oliver nodded as soon as Kaz mentioned her name. "Agreed," he said, "Let's go." Oliver reached the door before Kaz could, walking just a bit faster than his friend. With great haste, the two friends left the comic book store behind.


End file.
